One Trick Pony
by beartooth
Summary: Ranma realizes that being the best there is may not be all there is. His journey starts in Nerima, but eventually takes him to a place where he can finally come to terms with what he would like to be. Ranma x Kasumi...Completed!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Ranma, not gonna make any money off this.

Thanks!

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**Chapter 1**

Three little words, three little words were all it took to get him up here. He stared at the stars above, feeling the tiles of the roof push into his back, hoping the dew on the roof wouldn't trigger his change as it sometime did.

Ranma Saotome, the best there is in martial arts, the one who killed a god, lay on the roof of the Tendo Dojo trying to understand how those three little words unhinged him so. Until today, he may have admitted that he didn't know much about girls, school, or many other topics, but the one thing he was sure of was what he was going to do, heck what he had done, with his life. Ranma Saotome was going to be the best martial artist there is, and that's all there was to it.

Well...at least he thought he knew what he wanted, until earlier today...

"People, people, place your bets..." yelled Nabiki. This was sooo great, over the past few months, every bizarre martial artist in Japan felt the need to challenge the "Legendary Saotome". Oh, things had seemed quiet enough for the first few weeks after the failed wedding, and her sister and Ranma started getting along for the first week or so, but then things seemed to slip back to normal. Granted, even she had to admit that Ranma seemed to be trying, but face it, he just didn't have the people skills that were necessary when dealing with "her highness" Akane. It was the same old pattern of Ranma trying to explain his actions, Akane starting to blow, and then Ranma providing the final fuel for the Mallet powered explosion.

Ranma stood in the field near school facing the latest in a long series of challengers. It seems that word had spread about his battle with Saffron, and every conceivable martial artist in Japan decided that there way to fame was to defeat Ranma. True, with each battle, Ranma continued to develop more and more skills. It seemed that with each battle, the absorption of new techniques just got easier and easier...

"Now I will prove my superiority!" shouted the newcomer.

Ranma watched with amusement as the young man took of the cape that was draped around his shoulders. Under the cape, the youth wore a form fitting gi, with a bright yellow sash around his waste.

Ranma stood in his usual ready stance, letting the newcomer have the first move. His opponent led with a flurry of snap kicks that Ranma easily blocked. The challenger then switched to a series of punches that were at least at Amaguriken speeds.

"Wow, he's really fast" said Akane.

"Akane, you've got to be kidding, that's how fast Ranma was last year. He's not even close to Ranma's speed now." Nabiki commented.

As if to prove Nabiki's comments true, Ranma was easily blocking the blows of his opponent. "Is this all you have to offer?" he taunted.

"Alright, I was trying to go easy on you, but now you will know defeat! I learned this move recently as I was secretly watching a sensei and his student." The challenger cupped his hands in front of him and called out "Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" and shot the beam of energy squarly at Ranma.

There was a blinding flash of light as the beam struck Ranma. He didn't dodge, or even seem to try to block the attack. As everyone's eyes slowly started working again, they were amazed to see Ranma still standing, a few wisps of smoke rising from his body, but otherwise unharmed.

"What! That's impossible! There is no way you could just take that attack!"

"That's because I didn't block your silly attack" smirked Ranma. "I've finally figured out how to aborb a Ki-based attack instead of letting the energy slam against me. Hey, it's just life energy, if a body can create it, a body should be able to absorb it. It's just a matter of attuning your own Ki to be of the same frequency of your opponent. I'd like to play more with you... but I have a few errands I need to run" Ranma blurred forward and with his right hand, struck the young man in the chest.

His opponent seemed to launch himself away from Ranma, through two trees and into the brick wall 100 yards away. He lay there unmoving. Ranma turned away and walked back toward home.

"Feh, that wasn't even a workout" Ranma said to Akane as he was walking back toward the Tendo's.

"Oh yes, the great Ranma! We're so lucky you're here!" snarled Akane. "I am so tired of this parade of challengers. I could take any of them as easy as you could" she harrumphed.

"I doubt it." whispered Daisuke. He was walking a few steps behind them, and Ranma grinned as he overheard his comment. "If there is one thing Ranma can do, it's win martial arts fights".

"Yeah", his friend grinned, "It's just like we were talking about at lunch, a regular One Trick Pony".

"Quiet!" snapped Daisuke.

"What?" said the unknown boy, "What's he going to do, cut me down with that acid wit of his? Heck, if I were a martial artist, I'd have something to worry about, but he won't do anything to me for just words, heck, he can't even deal with Akane, more less a stranger."

"I don't care, he's still my friend...so just can-it!"

Ranma heard the brief exchange, but he had never heard the term "One Tick Pony" before, but based on the other comment, and the feeling in his gut, he felt he didn't like the sound of it... But what could you do about it, after all, they were just words, and it wouldn't be honorable to confront a non-fighter about his behavior, what could he do?

Ranma and Akane walked on in relative peace, neither one saying much as they made their way home. Akane thought something might be bothering Ranma, but more likely he was thinking disgusting thoughts about Shampoo or Ukyo or Kodachi or ...

As they walked through the gate of the Tendo's Home, Ranma finally asked "Hey Akane, you ever heard of the phrase 'One Trick Pony'?".

"No. Why should I? It sounds perverted!" she said as she took off her shoes. "It sounds like something you'd like to do with Shampoo or Ukyo! I'm going up to my room to have some peace and quiet. Why don't you stay down here for a while with your sick fantasies.." she said as she stomped off..

"So boy", Genma bellowed as he saw Ranma. "I heard Nabiki talking. Sounds like you once again protected your fiancée. Sounds like we should be making plans for a new wedding, eh Tendo".

"Exactly!" Soun chimed in "Finally the houses can be joined!"

"Protected!" shouted Ranma, "It had nothing to do with protecting her, I had another challenger today. This is getting old! These fools are hardly worth the effort any more"

"Old! It is your honor bound duty to defeat any challengers to our school." said Genma.

"Honor! I am so tired of hearing how and why I have to all that I have to do because of Honor. Lately these challengers haven't even come close to be interesting, more less a real challenge." said Ranma as he walked into the next room. 'I used to look forward to battling new people, but now it's just the same old thing..' As he turned the corner, he saw Nabiki sitting on the chair. 'Should I ask her about that phrase?' he thought. 'I know she'll charge me, but something tells me I need to figure this out'. If anybody could fill him in, she could

"Say Nabiki..." started Ranma.

"500 Yen" Nabiki cut in without thinking.

Ranma sighed, and reached into his pocket, pulling out the small amount of money he had. "Here you go. I heard something today, something that I hadn't heard of before. Have you heard of the phrase 'One Trick Pony'?"

Nabiki, the self proclaimed Ice Queen of Furinkan, tried desperately not to smile. 'So he finely heard about it' she thought, I knew those fools couldn't keep their mouths shut for long. "One Trick Pony? Where did you hear about that?"

Ranma felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Nabiki was good,...very good, but the time he'd spent living with her had allowed him to sometimes see beyond the mask she so expertly wore. Fortunately, this was one of those times, and he could tell Nabiki not only knew what he was talking about, but was somehow amused by it. "Oh, I overheard one of Daisuke's friends mention it. He was talking about me, and it sounded like other people have heard of it too."

Nabiki glanced at the clock...4:45..she'd have to check who won the pool she had going on when Ranma would get wind of his new nickname. "Well, I think that it's an American term. It refers to a horse that is really great at one thing, one 'trick', and one thing only, but for everything else it is worthless." There, let's see if the Saotome mental engine could put two and two together. She doubted it, but every once in a while, Ranma did manage to surprise her.

Ranma stood there trying to understand what that had to do with... "Wait, are you saying that people think I'm a One Trick Pony?"

"Oh come on Saotome!" sighed Nabiki. "Let's tally up the things you are good at, and the things that you are not. And to make it fair, I'll even ask you how you think you stand! What about school?

"Who cares about school? I don't need that stuff?"

"I'll take that as a 'not'. What about girlfriends?

"I can handle them!" protested Ranma.

"Oh give me a break Saotome, you have what 3, 4 fiance's. You can't choose a single one, you string each one on, and more likely than not, each one wants to pound you when they see you. Your female skills are definitely in the 'not' category."

"OK, maybe you have a point" consented Ranma.

"Alright, next category, money making skills?" asked Nabiki.

"No"

"Can you build things? Carpentry?"

"No"

"Do you do any volunteer work?"

"You know I don't have time for that and training too!"

"Do you have any male friends?"

"Hah! I've got you there! There is Ryoga"

"Oh please" bemused Nabiki. "Mr. 'Die Ranma! I've seen hell and I'll make you pay!'? If you consider him a friend you're worse off than I thought. I've watched you two, if he could knock you out of the picture and get Akane for himself, you'd be gone yesterday!. When it comes down to it, when has he ever helped you just for the sake of helping a friend? I know you've helped him several times, but I've never known him to do anything for you. It's always under the guise of 'helping Ranma to get rid of his curse' when all he is doing is trying to get the Naanichuan water for himself."

Ranma stopped for a minute. "You know about P-chan?"

"Of course, do you think I'm as blind as Akane? Kasumi, Daddy and I had a little talk along time ago. After Daddy saw P-chan go in the furo and Ryoga come out, he had the common sense to talk to Kasumi and I about how to handle the situation. We decided that it is between you three, and for us to get in the middle will only make it worse for all of you...and us!" she concluded.

"Ok, ok, so I don't have any real male friends, keep going"

"Alright, what about hobbies?"

"Beyond martial arts? No"

"Do you like to read?"

"Right, like a martial artist needs to be well read..."

"How about cooking?"

"Just what I learned from Pop, enough to get by"

"Man-amongst-men?" now we get a bit trickier thought Nabiki.

"Well, uh..."

Ah now here is where I set the hook.. "What about Martial Arts?"

"Duh! of course! How else am I going to be the best!" returned Ranma

"I rest my case. I present to you, Ranma Saotome, the Wild Horse, also known around town as the One Trick Pony."

So that was the phrase that got him up here. "One Trick Pony." After Nabiki had told him about the phrase, he walked off, and decided to perform some of the katas that helped him relax. He was relatively quiet through dinner, and decided to come up to his room afterward. And what a surprise...he ended up on the roof.

"One Trick Pony..."

Somehow, the image of some poor animal, proud of its accomplishment, but oblivious to the amusement of those around him made him sick to his stomach.

"One Trick Pony..."

Is that what his father had done to him? Made him so focused on being the best that it was costing him everything else. Lately, even he had thoughts of where his prowess at Martial Arts was taking him. His father and Mr. Tendo kept saying how the houses would be joined, and that he and Akane would get the Dojo, but then what? How could he teach students? Or even more amusing, how could Akane, with her hair trigger temper teach students either. All he was familiar with was the bizarre training techniques used by his father, and even he knew that nobody else would ever tolerate the methods his father had so willingly used.

"One Trick Pony..."

What did he really want? Was being the best there is really what he was shooting for. Heck, he could already tell he was almost at the top, and what was it getting him? A lot of pathetic challengers, and no new challenges left.

"One Trick Pony"

Ranma had spent so long focused on the one thing in his life that he had cared for, that he couldn't begin to figure out what he really wanted in life. But he knew one thing for sure as he drifted off too sleep, it wasn't to be a One Trick Pony an longer.

In his dream, he saw himself standing in the middle of a large ring...a circus ring! His father was the ringmaster, with Soun and Akane as clowns. His father cracked a whip and he started running around in the circle. As he jumped over obstacles placed in front of him, the crowd cheered, giving him a sense of satisfaction that he was the best. That is until he realized that he wasn't running on two legs, but four! As the whip kept cracking, he ran faster and faster. Soon the show was over and he was ready to rest, but Genma and the two clowns hustled him into a stall. "Can't let you get distracted, before the next show" Genma laughed! Soun and Akane walked away with the ringmaster, leaving Ranma alone and empty...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Ranma, still not gonna make any money off this.

I'd like to thank everyone for all the great reviews! Now that I've finally begun to write a story instead of voraciously consume them, I have new respect for the authors of all the great Ranma fanfics I've read in the past.

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**Chapter 2**

Ranma awoke with a start. For the first time ever, he had slept through the entire night on the Tendo's roof. He looked at the sun rising over the Nerima rooftops and decided that there was only one person who he could trust to give him advice on how to start his new journey.

He hopped off of the roof and wandered inside. At this time on Saturday morning, the only person up was Kasumi, who was just starting breakfast.

"Morning Kasumi!"

"Oh! Ranma-kun! Why are you up so early? Don't you usually try to sleep in until your fathers wakes you up?"

"Yeah, but I had a rough night last night. I did a lot of thinking, and wanted to ask you a question...if that's alright.. It's kind of personal so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to anybody else about it."

"Of course Ranma" Kasumi smiled and pointed to the chairs at the table. "Have a seat."

"Thanks Kasumi. See, somebody said something yesterday, something that got me thinking. And what I finally realized, is that I don't know much about anything except my martial arts. And...I wanted to know...if you could give me some advice as to what I should really do with my life?"

Kasumi kept her smile to herself. When Ranma first got here, her first impressions of Ranma and his father were not the best, and she had quickly side stepped the engagement and placed the responsibility on the one person that she know would postpone the commitment, Akane. Over the months, Kasumi had quickly changed her mind about the young man seated in front of her. She hoped that he would be able to break free of the narrow path his father had set him on and to use his sharp mind to start thinking for himself. Today seemed like Ranma had finally made a turn for the better.

Kasumi had often thought about how she could fix some of the problems that Ranma was having. Over the months she had come up with several ideas, yet none had ever seemed to work, because of the chaos and indecision in Ranma's life. His simple question this morning gave her the inspiration to guide him in his new effort to improve himself.

"Ranma", she began, "nobody can tell somebody else what they should or shouldn't do with their life. It's true, many will give you suggestions or directions, but the bottom line is that if you don't want it or believe it, then it really doesn't mean anything."

"OK...but then what do I do?" he sighed.

"Well, when you want to improve yourself in Martial Arts, how do you learn new things? How do you broaden your skills" she asked.

"Oh, that's easy! Find somebody that is doing something you want to do and learn from them. Watch what they do, see if you can incorporate it into your style, and if it makes sense, start practicing the new technique until you get it right." Ranma stated smugly.

"So you don't just sit around and make things up in your mind?"

"Well, once you get good enough at stuff you can" Ranma continued, "but usually it's best to learn from people that have already figured out how to do the technique already."

Kasumi smiled, "So, if that works so well for you in Martial Arts, why can't you use the same techniques when it comes to figuring out what you want to do with your life?"

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"Well, it seems to me that if you don't know what you want to do, you should find somebody who seems happy and content with their life and see what they are doing or planning on doing. Maybe that will give you ideas on how to choose for yourself" she finished.

Ranma sat for a moment and thought about what Kasumi had said. It made sense, all he had to do was apply the same way of learning that worked so well with the Art to his other problems. He was so used to Genma telling him to "forget anything else" that he never thought to use what worked so well for him in one part of his life on his other problems.

Ranma's face brightened with a smile Kasumi hadn't seen in a while. "Thanks Kasumi! That sounds like a great idea!"

"You're welcome Ranma" beamed Kasumi. "I'm sure you'll come up with some excellent ideas if you really try."

"I will! Thanks again" he said as he stood up. "I think I'll start with my oldest friend, and work my way from there".

"That sounds like an excellent idea Ranma. I hope you find some good ideas" finished Kasumi as Ranma walked out of the room.

A short time later, Ranma entered Ucchan's. At this time of morning, Ukyo would be preparing for the day's customers, but would still be by herself.

"Morning Ukyo" beamed Ranma as he sat down at the counter.

"Ran-chan! What are you doing here so early in the morning?" asked Ukyo.

"Well..." Ranma grinned sheepishly, "something came up yesterday that got me thinking about my future in a different way."

Ukyo's hopes shot up immediately, she sat down giving Ranma her full attention. "Go on..."

"See, I always wanted to be the best Martial Artist ever. Yeah, I guess pops beat that into my head well enough over the years. Well, somebody made a comment yesterday about how that would be all I could ever do...and they put it in a way that somehow got me to consider the real implications of being the 'best there is.' I realized that I really didn't have _any_ plans for my future, or even what I really wanted later in life."

Ukyo was impressed. Even she had wondered what Ranma really wanted in life. Not that she didn't have plans of her own for the two of them...

"Anyways, I talked to somebody about it this morning, and they said that maybe if I talked to some other people about their plans and hopes, maybe I'd get some ideas about my own future."

"So who else have you talked to?" Ukyo was afraid to ask, but she might as well find out where she stood.

"Actually, you're the first. I figured I've known you longer than anybody else, and you always seem to be doing good for yourself. Heck, you got your own place already!" he smiled.

Ukyo was beside herself! This was an opportunity she'd always hoped for, but never had the chance to take advantage of! Of course she had plans, why else did she set up shop in Nerima after deciding she might have a future with Ranma. Ukyo calmed herself and decided to lay it all out for Ranma, if there were any time to set the hook, this was it!

"Actually, I'm already living what I want to do...well almost that is" she started. "You know okonomiyaki is my life. I'm just like you, I want to be the best there is at my art. I've got this small place here, but one day I'd like to have a nice place in Tokyo...be a well-known chef..and of course have a family." she blushed. "The only thing missing is you Ran-chan! If we were together, I'd have it all!"

Ranma sat there silent. Ukyo figured that at least he hadn't run off right away. _We'll just have to see what he does next_ she thought to herself.

"Now don't get all excited about what I have to ask you, but where would I fit in to this plan of yours" Ranma asked. "Seems I don't have anything really to offer to the situation..."

"What!" Ukyo exclaimed. She couldn't believe how well this was going. Ranma walks in one morning, and asks how their life could be together. "Why, you could practice Martial Arts! We could get a dojo in the area and you could teach. You could enter tournaments and go for the prize money." she blurted. "And of course you can take care of the kids as well."

"Take care of the Kids?"

"Sure! I'll be able to support us with the restaurant. And you know the hours I have to spend keeping things going. I know you'll be a great Dad, and it makes sense for you to do that will I support the family. It should be no problem to enter a few tournaments and teach some classes here and there. It'll get easier as the kids grow up. I'll take care of you Ranma, I've always told you I'd be there for you!" Ukyo finished.

Ranma grew quiet. If there was one thing that he knew of besides Martial Arts, is that he didn't want to be a freeloader like his pop. He realized as he listened to Ukyo that she as obsessed about her Art as he was his. _I guess this must how I must seem to be to other people_ he thought to himself. It was obvious that to Ukyo, okonomiyaki was her first love, and Ranma was her second. Yes, she wanted him in her life, but Ranma wasn't sure if he wanted that life or not.

He put a smile on his face, she didn't need to know how he felt about this yet. "Thanks Ukyo, I'll think about what you said. It sounds nice, but I'm going to talk to some other people still to see what they have to say"

Ukyo's face fell...he wasn't going for it. "What's wrong with my idea?" she asked.

"Oh nothing is wrong with it" he quickly added. _Time to do a little thinking on my feet for once instead of placing them in my mouth_. "I just promised myself that I would talk to everyone before I tried to sort things out".

Ukyo perked up...a bit. "OK. Come talk to me when you are done".

"Thanks Ukyo, I will" he said as he stood to leave. "And thanks for caring about me. I have a feeling not too many people do around here when it really comes down to it."

Ranma turned and walked out the door, trying to decide who he would talk to next. He decided there was no reason he had to talk to everybody in one day, so he went back to the Dojo to practice. At least there he could lose himself in the one thing that didn't give him a hard time.

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It was two days after Ranma had finished talking with Ukyo, and he was wondering who to talk to next. He decided he'd might as well talk to the one person he really didn't want to talk to, but felt obligated to get her side of the story.

As Ranma walked into the Nekohaten, Shampoo immediately charged across the dining area "Airen finally here to take Shampoo on date?"

"Hello Shampoo" Ranma gasped through the Amazon glomp.

"Son-in-law, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you by on such a beautiful day?"

"Actually, I...uh...wanted to talk to Shampoo for a few minutes."

"Really?" Shampoo couldn't believe it. "We go now, is okay Great-Grandmother?"

"Certainly" replied Cologne. "You two enjoy yourselves, we can take care of matters here"

Ranma nervously escorted Shampoo out the front door and over to a low wall near the restaurant. Shampoo quickly sat down next to him "What Airen want to talk about?"

"Shampoo" Ranma started "Please listen to all of what I have to say before coming to conclusions. I'm just trying to get information from several people I know, and you are one of the people I felt I should talk to."

"Ok" Shampoo was already on alert, _this definitely wasn't a date_ she thought. "I try".

"I've been asking several people what they want out of life...what makes them happy. I've never asked you before, but what kind of life do you see yourself living?"

"Oh, this easy question" Shampoo quickly replied. "We go back to village, raise big family, since I only great-granddaughter of Cologne, good chance I be village elder one day. After all, I best warrior in tribe!"

"Yes but what do you see yourself doing every day?"

"Shampoo best Amazon warrior in tribe!" she began. "I lead training of new warriors, in charge of patrols for village. Take good care of Airen each day!"

"So what would I be doing while you are on patrols?" He had a good idea where this was going...no surprises here.

"Airen take care of family and house. Train children in Martial Arts! We have strongest children in Village!" Shampoo was beside herself, she finally was able to talk about her dream with her Airen, with no Kitchen Destroyer or other obstacles to interfere.

"Would I be able to go on patrols as well?" Ranma knew what the answer would be before he even asked.

"Of course not! Patrols is for Amazon warriors only!" she quickly stated.

"Hmmm, that is what I thought" he murmured. Ranma quickly stood up "Thanks a lot Shampoo. I'm...ah...really glad we had this talk. I'll see ya!" he blurted as he leaped away.

Shampoo was confused. Why did Airen run off so quickly. Why didn't he want to talk more about their wonderful life in the village back home.

"Shampoo!" hissed Cologne. Shampoo had not noticed her standing back in the shadows.

"Yes great-grandmother?"

"I have a bad feeling about son-in-law. I fear he is about to make a big decision, and we must ensure that it is the correct one. We need to keep a close eye on son-in-law for the next few days to see what he is really up to."

After the brief, and unsurprising, conversation with Shampoo, Ranma went to work out in the dojo for a while, and think about what Ukyo and Shampoo had to say. When he entered the Tendo's he noticed that only his father and Soun were home. _Kasumi must be shopping, and I don't even want to think what Nabiki may be doing_ thought Ranma. He avoided the two playing their game of Shogi and went to the dojo.

Once in the room, Ranma quickly lost himself to his Art. He blurred through several katas, becoming one with the motions and techniques he had so long practiced. As he worked through each set, he thought more about his problem. It wasn't that he really wanted to give up Martial Arts, as much as not be a slave to them. He was tired of performing for everyone else, and wanted a little more control of his own life. He definitely wanted more than the Art, but not a replacement for it.

He continued to practice for over an hour, and then decided to acknowledge his loudly growling stomach. He wandered into the kitchen to find Nabiki sitting at the table finishing her lunch.

"Yo Ranma" she mumbled between bites.

"Hey Nabiki." he replied as he snagged some food from the fridge.

Nabiki finished her lunch, and turned her attention to Ranma. "So what are you doing on this fine day."

"Nuthin...just having some lunch."

Nabiki eyed Ranma "Come on Ranma, I can tell when you are up to something. You may think you can keep it from me, but I'll find out eventually."

Ranma sighed. She was right, and besides, she was on his list of people he wanted to talk to. He was lucky that Akane was out with her friends today. "Well, thanks to you, I've been thinking..." he started.

"Whoa, I'm concerned already...you've been thinking!"

"Alright, let it be. You asked me what was up, remember?"

"OK, OK, continue" she said.

"As I said, I've been thinking, and talking to a few people" he continued. "I was curious about what other people were looking for in life. Thought I might get some ideas, maybe some things I might want to do...you know, in addition to being a One Trick Pony."

Hmmm, thought Nabiki, looks like that name really got to him yesterday, I would have never thought he would be considering options already.

"So, anyways, I was wondering what you are planning on doing with your life?" he finally asked.

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma." she started. "Nothing I can tell you can be any use to you. I plan on making it big in business. I'm headed off to college soon and plan on never looking back. I have no interest in Martial Arts, or event family life. If I have my way I'll be the most powerful single woman in Japan. Family is just a liability. Look how much of my money I have to use to take care of this family. What do I get out of it? Nothing. I do it because I have to...because I have to live here too...for now."

"I don't know what got you turned on to this 'fix my life' thing, but frankly I'm not impressed. By tomorrow you'll be fighting with Ryoga, being chased by Shampoo, and being clobbered by my sister. You don't have it in you to change yourself" she finished.

"You really don't think family matters?" he asked.

"What, you think it does? Look at your own family. You're a tool for your father and a gene pool for your mother. Tell me how your family makes your life better" she smirked.

"Look, you don't have to take after your parents" he admitted, "you can also use them as examples what NOT to do".

"Maybe, maybe not" she replied. "But you asked me what I wanted, and I know what will work for me, what you do is your problem."

"You're right Nabiki" he said. "It is my problem"

She sat and looked at him for a few minutes more, and then stood and proceeded up to her room. Ranma just sat there, trying to decide if Kasumi had given him good or bad advice. So far, he was beginning to realize that he was surrounded by people just as obsessed as he was. _Not much help there _he thought. _Of course, I just said that you don't always have to use people as examples of what to do, you can just as easily use them as what not to do_.

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As Ranma sat brooding about his own problems, Hikaru Gosunkugi was about to make the find of a lifetime. He had found this small shop several weeks ago, and every few days had been coming back to dig through their massive inventory of potions, scrolls, an magical items searching for just the thing to make Akane his. So far he had come up empty.

"Still can't find anything you like?" asked the old man behind the counter.

"Not yet. I can't believe you don't have any items to make somebody fall in love with you." he said.

"Ah...I've told you already. Love is a tricky thing. Most magics can do anything but that. Oh they may tell you they'll make somebody fall in love with you, but there is always a hidden price that ruins it in the end."

Hikaru continued to look through the items. He was so absorbed with finding a love-potion that he almost missed the small scroll behind the blue jar to his left.

As he unrolled the scroll, his mind started to see the possibilities.

"Be careful young man" the shopkeeper warned. "That is a very powerful scroll. It was said to be used by the Amazons to banish their most hated criminals to an un-escapable prison."

"Really?" asked Gosunkugi. He could already see the use of this scroll. He may not be able to make Akane fall in love with him, but he could at least get Ranma out of the way with this. "How much?"

As the two argued over the final cost. Gosunkugi knew that he had finally found something that could give him a fighting chance against the great Ranma Saotome.

----------------------

Nabiki had ruined the good mood Ranma had built up during the workout in the dojo. He tried to shake it off, but it still bothered him the next day. After school, rather than return home to the Tendo's, he decided to walk to one of the local parks that he often went to when trying to find a little peace in the day.

As he walked to the park, he realized that it wouldn't do much good to talk to the other people he was thinking of talking to. Ryoga would say he just wanted Akane. Shampoo just wanted him for genetic material. Akane...he wasn't sure about Akane yet, but he didn't have that warm fuzzy feeling that talking to her would produce any positive results. Kasumi had a good idea, the problem is, Ranma didn't know anybody who seemed happy with their lives. The more he thought of it, the more he realized he was surrounded by people as obsessed as he was about achieving their single minded goals.

Once he got to the park, he sat down and watched the people around him. He was often amazed at the huge difference between the people he saw at this park, and the people that he usually ran into.

_Everybody looks so happy_ he thought.

To his left sat a young couple on another bench with two small children. The oldest, a boy of about 6, was playing with his younger sister, who was maybe 3 years old.

"Come on Ami, lets go play on the swings" shouted the boy.

"Yayyy! Swings!" cried his little sister. As she ran with her brother to the swings.

Ranma watched the two happy parents, talking to each other on the bench and watching their two children play on the playground. Off to his right on yet another was an elderly couple, also with smiles on their faces. They didn't seem to be doing anything in particular, just watching the world go by. Ranma had a feeling deep in his gut that there was a clue to his dilemma here. These people were happy, relaxed, and yet obviously weren't anything special.

As he continued watching the people in the park, part of the answer came to him. _ They weren't constantly competing or battling each other! _It shocked Ranma to realize that he was so immersed in a competitive world, that one thing he rarely got to do was just enjoy his friends company. Granted, many of the escapades he was involved with weren't his fault. But when he thought back over the last year, it was one chaotic problem after another. Either with him looking for a cure for his curse, or unlocking his curse, or defending Akane, or defending himself... Even his own parents were after him one way or another. His father thought any moments rest was a sign of weakness, and his mother...well, let's just say that Ranma was really nervous around his mother and her ideas of what was manly or not.

So, here was a set of people who actually seemed happy. Didn't Kasumi say to ask people what made them happy?

Ranma wasn't looking forward to walking up to some strangers, and asking them such a personal question. Most people would think he was some strange guy with bizarre ulterior motives. Ranma picked out a drinking fountain over by some bushes and decided to gamble that strangers would be more likely to talk to a young girl about emotional things than a young man.

A few moments later, Ranma wiped her wet hands on her pants and proceeded to walk over the the older couple still on the bench. "Good afternoon" she greeted them.

"Ah hello Miss. Can we help you?" said the woman. She glanced up at the young red-head and could tell something was bothering the young lady.

"Ma'am, would you mind if I asked you about something personal?" she started. "Not that personal! It's just that I don't really have anybody else that I could talk to, and you two seemed so happy, that I thought I could get some advice from you".

"Certainly!" the old man beamed. "What can we do for you?"

"I've been talking with a friend, who gave me some good advice. I told her that I was frustrated that my life was so focused on being the best about something, that I realized that I might be missing out on something by being so focused. She suggested that I talk to some people that seemed happy with their lives, and to see if they could give me some ideas. I just thought you too seemed to look so happy together that..."

"We might be able to tell you why we were so happy?" said the woman with a smile.

"Yes ma'am" Ranma mumbled, her face going red with embarrassment.

"Have a seat young lady" said her husband. "We'd be glad to talk to you for a while"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ranma sat down on the bench next to the elderly couple. She felt extremely awkward having this conversation, but realized that if you wanted to learn from a Master, you had to find a Master to talk to. God knows that most everyone she currently knew was disqualified from being able to give her some decent advice.

"It's funny you should pick us" the lady started. "I was once very much like you, only I was fixed on being the best journalist ever. I had dreams of writing for the major Tokyo newspapers. Traveling the world, and finding out the lowdown on everyone and everything. Just out of curiosity, how old are you miss?"

"Seventeen" she murmured.

"Ah, I was well on my way to fulfilling my dream. Or at least thought I was. By the time I was 21, I was working in a mid-level newspaper. I was putting in horrendous hours to 'pay my dues' so that I could keep moving up to bigger newspapers. It was then that I met Asuko here."

The old man smiled. "Yup, I ruined everything for her."

"What do you mean" asked Ranma.

"When I first met Asuko, we started dating, but nothing much came of it because I had so little free time to be with him. We had being seeing each other off-and-on for 6 months, and then one day I was talking to a woman wher I worked. She was a senior reporter, single, middle aged and very unhappy. It seemed that she had also wanted to be the best reporter...and she got her wish. Problem was, she realized too late that focusing on one goal often costs you others. She told me that sometimes there were more important things than just being the best there was. Sometimes you need to find what _you_ want in life. That got me to reconsider the time I spent with Asuko. I started spending more time with him, and less time at work. As time went on, even though I backed off on my work hours, I still became a senior reporter. The funny thing was, I found out that I enjoyed my time with Asuko more than I enjoyed being one of the best reporters."

Ranma sat quietly, thinking about what the woman said. It made sense in some ways. Her current unease might be caused by her absolute focus on Martial Arts. _I guess it's like only focusing on offense s_he thought to himself. _If you ignore everything but one aspect, it doesn't make you stronger, and it may leave you open to other problems. _"How were you able to give up the dream you had for so long? It sounds like you just changed your mind all of a sudden."

"Oh no, not at all. All it took is for me to realize that it wasn't really my job that was making me happy, it was being with Asuko. Granted, it took a while to come to the full realization that maybe...maybe what I thought I wanted wasn't really what I wanted after all. I had spent so many years listening to other people tell me how important it was to be the best, that I really never sat back and considered what I would be sacrificing to be "the best". What's more, when I really started to think about _why_ I wanted to be the best journalist, I realized that I wast trying to still perform for other people, and not for myself."

"Granted, this may have worked for my wife here" the old mad added. "It doesn't mean that what she did would work for everyone. I know several people who have given their life for their 'Art" and seem to be quite content with their decision. The point is, _you _have to make the decision for yourself, and not let others drive you. For us, the decision to be together helped put everything else in perspective. It gave us a balance that we didn't have before."

"Of course, the fact that we're both hopeless romantics helped with our decision." the woman smiled at her husband. "It's funny. So many people stress doing well in your job or your 'Art', but so little is spent letting people know there are alternatives to being a work-aholic. I'm not sure why, maybe because there's no money to be made in romance compared to getting people to run faster in the rat-race."

They continued to talk about the couples early life together, and how their companionship was what mattered most in their lives.

"Thanks" she finally grinned. "I think I see what you mean. I guess my problem still is trying to figure out what...or maybe who... I'm missing"

"Ah, that is a tough one" stated the older man. "In fact, the toughest part of your problem, and it sounds like you already know this, is that nobody can really give you that answer but you"

"Yeah, I think you're right. Thanks again for talking with me" she said as he rose to leave. "I may not know what I want yet, but at least I think I'm getting closer to figuring it out."

Ranma went back over to her bench and continued to watch the people in the park for the next hour or so. Not everyone was a happy couple, and many times he saw individuals enjoying themselves just as much as the couple he talked to. But something in the older couple's happiness touched her in a way that he knew was significant.

_I guess I am lonely s_he thought. _I've been on the road so long with pop that I can't really even imagine being happy and secure with family and friends. Every time I got close to somebody pops would insist we move on so I wouldn't become weak by becoming to close to my new friends. _The years of solitude combined with the chaos that surrounded her now surely didn't contribute to a feeling of security.

_Kasumi said to watch other happy people and get ideas from them s_he thought. None of these people seem to be pushing themselves non-stop. People were enjoying each others company. There were no intense rivalries, no malleting of bakas, just people taking the time to enjoy themselves and not constantly trying to better themselves every waking moment. _No wonder I'm so caught up in being the "best there is!" Everybody around me is so fixated on getting what they want, on being better than everyone else that I didn't even realize that they were just as bad as me!_

_But being relaxed isn't the only key ingredient s_he realized. _ Most of these people take care of each other by having jobs that let them spend time with their families. Definitely no 10 year training trips! _He mused. It seemed like she at least realized being alone wasn't what she wanted, but she still had no real idea what to do other than Martial Arts. _Dammit! I've spent my whole life trying to be the best, I'm not going to solve this problem in just a few days._

"I might as well go face the last challenge" she finally said as she roused herself from her seat and set off to the Tendo Dojo to talk with the last person on her list.

---------------------------------

Ranma found Akane in the Dojo. The stupid tomboy was in the corner breaking her usual bricks. Feh! What a waste of time! And what did it get her...nothing except to build her anger to higher and higher levels.

"Akane" she began "could I talk to you for a few moments?"

"About what?" Akane stopped her pummeling and faced Ranma. For once she didn't have her mask of frustration on, but appeared to view her with a more neutral attitude.

"Well...I heard something at school the other day that got me thinking. Thinking about what I was, and what I wanted out of life. Kasumi suggested I talk to some other people and find out what they were looking to get out of life...and...well...I was wondering what you were planning on doing."

"Wow Ranma. That sounds like your really care. Do you really want to know what my dreams are, what I'd like to do?"

"Sure" she said. "If you wouldn't mind telling them to me..."

"You'll probably just make fun of me."

"No I won't!"

"You will too!"

"Look you stubborn Tomboy, I said I was interested" Oops, the trusty Akane scowl had appeared. "Look Akane, I don't want to argue. I'm...sorry I called you a Tomboy. Could you please tell me"

Akane stopped in mid rant and looked like she was trying to decide whether to mallet her or to calm down. What helped her decide was Ranma's uncharacteristic apology. "Ok, I'll tell you."

"Thanks Akane."

"Well Ranma, even though I like doing martial arts, I found out last year that I really enjoyed being in that play. I've talked to drama teacher about acting and she said I was a natural. Something about being able to show emotion well"

_Yeah, negative emotions!_ Ranma thought

"So I've been looking into being an actress. It would be nice to get the attention and to have people look up to me. I've noticed that more and more foreign actresses are getting to work in American films, so my plan is to start in Tokyo, but if I can earn enough money I'd like to fly to America and see if I can break in there."

"Wow, that could take years couldn't it?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't mind. I could lead a simple life waiting for my big break. After all, its not like we're rolling in money now."

"But wouldn't you have to give up your Martial Arts?"

"You know, I've thought about that, and for as much as I like being a Martial Artist, I've finally come to realize that there are a lot of better Martial Artists than I am, and after seeing the ridiculous training that all of you had to endure, I'm not sure I really want to compete in that arena anymore."

Ranma was dumbstruck. Akane actually was admitting that there were better Martial Artists than herself? What could come next, that she could actually cook? "So...ah...what about the engagement?"

Akane looked down and fidgeted a few moments, then looked back and met Ranma's eyes. "I'm not sure how that's supposed to work. I figured I could come visit you while I'm in Tokyo, and then if I get to America, maybe you could come too." Akane knew how week it sounded, but deep in her heart, she knew that she wanted to be a star, and Ranma would never give her the credit she so deeply wanted. Oh sure, if she surprised her by coming along with her, she wouldn't object...maybe.

"Oh" She hated to admit that this surprised, and slightly hurt her. Oh sure she teased her, and called her names, but when it came down to it, she was the closest thing she had to a real friend since Ukyo. They had been through a lot together, and she had done everything he could for her when the chips were down. That childish part of her that wanted to be the center of attention cringed at the realization that she was considering moving on.

They sat there a few more seconds, Akane began to say something when a familiar bell sounded and a shape loomed above Ranma only to crash down on him a moment later. "Nihao Airen! You ready to take Shampoo on date? Talk more about wonderful life in village?"

"Not now Shampoo" Ranma extracted himself from beneath the bike. "Can't you see I'm talkin' to somebody"

"I see Kitchen Destroyer leaving...so we can go on date, Yes?" Shampoo reached into her basket and pulled out a thermos of hot water. "I fix it so we go on real date, OK?" she said as she splashed Ranma with some of the warm water, shifting her to his male form.

Ranma turned around to see Akane stomping off. Oh well, so much for the magic moment of her letting down her guard. As he watched Akane walk away, a growing resentment built.

"Shampoo! I sat down to talk with you, and listened to your ideas. I told you that I was going to talk to other people, couldn't you let me finish!"

"Why, she no good for you. You no need to talk to anybody else. Come, let's go on date!"

"No Shampoo! Not now, I don't want to be with you right now." Instead of the usual continuation of protests, he just stood up and lept to the fence and then up to the nearby roof.

"Aiyah! Shampoo no understand why Airen so angry. Maybe I talk to great-grandmother about what to do" Shampoo muttered as she rode away on her bicycle.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ranma was definitely having a bad day. Mind you, he had worse, but somehow, this one frustrated him more because he wasn't trying to accomplish a great feat. No, all he wanted to do was get some inspiration, some help, from some of his friends. Instead, he realized that most of his friends were as bad off, or worse, than he was.

_What am I going to do_ he thought to himself. _Kasumi had a good idea, the problem is, I don't have anybody I can really ask. _Ranma was currently walking to the bridge he often went to when he was looking for a little peace and quiet.

He'd almost made it to the bridge, when he heard the familiar "Hello son-in-law" up ahead. _Oh great, now I have to deal with the old ghoul as well. _Cologne was sitting on a ledge up to his right. She was obviously waiting for him, which means she must have known about his "quiet spot". _Just great..._

"So Ranma, my great grand-daughter tells me you are having some interesting conversations these last few days. What are you up to this time"

Ranma was so fed up with how things had gone the last two days that he just didn't have the energy to fight the old mummy this afternoon. Instead he not only surprised himself, but Cologne as well.

"Nuthin. All I wanted to do was to understand what I could do to get out of this rut I'm in. Heck, as of last week, I didn't even know I had a problem. Unfortunately, the only idea I found was from a stranger. All of my friends seem to suffer the same thing I'm sufferin from." Ranma told her.

"Really? And what might that be?" Cologne was surprised. No false bravado, no quick retort. Whatever caused this turn of events must have really gotten to the boy.

"Being a one-trick pony. You know, somebody that can only do one thing, but is worthless for everything else. It finally hit me that I might be going down that path, and the more I think aboutm it the less I like it. When I look around me I only see people that are after one thing. Oh, it may be different from person to person, but in the end, each only cares about their 'one-trick'."

"You said you got one idea from a stranger" Cologne asked. This was an interesting turn of events. "What might that be?"

"Well, I talked to this old couple in the park, and they basically said that they helped each other out of each of their ruts. But I think it's more than that, I think they helped each other to want to do more than focus on their 'one thing'. Problem is, I still don't know what I'm lookin for" he finished, looking down to the ground, his frustration evident on his troubled features.

"I'm impressed son-in-law." Cologne said, earning a surprised look from Ranma.

"You are?" he said, looking up in surprise.

Cologne gazed directly at Ranma. "Indeed. A true asset to the tribe does not fix on one single task in life. To do so risks bringing easy defeat in a battle. It is the fullness of one's life that allows a warrior to deal with defeat and frustration. Even Amazons don't win every battle, and if all we cared about was the battle, it would be difficult to go on in times of defeat. To have other interests in life keeps one going in times of trouble. The fact that you are beginning to realize this shows you are taking another stride in becoming more than just a great warrior."

"Great, my problems are good for me. Somehow that doesn't give me much comfort" he sighed.

"You misunderstand, I am not saying these are problems, I am saying that you are beginning to take the first steps to becoming something more than your" she paused, trying to remember the phrase he used ."One trick pony" she finished. "I think what you are finding is that those who only worry about themselves may do well in the one area they concentrate on, but the person that learns to care about more than himself often rises to true greatness. Your problem is that you have no one you truly care for. Oh it's true that you often rise to the occasion for the Tendo girl, but I still have a suspicion that your interest in her isn't the inspiration you need to truly grow to your real potential."

Ranma sat and thought about what Cologne said. It was true that some of his biggest victories were when he was trying to help Akane. The problem is, saving Akane was more of an instinct. It wasn't because he couldn't live without her, it was more of a perceived responsibility he had for her.

"Maybe you're right" he finally admitted. "Problem is, I don't see anybody that isn't really trying to use me for one thing or another, even you" he chuckled.

"Oh I won't deny that I'd love for you to get with Shampoo. The biggest problem I have is that deep in this aged heart, I know that you would be worthless to the tribe if we coerced you to come back with us. No, our only hope is that you decide for yourself that Shampoo is the one for you."

"Nothing personal old ghoul" he winced at the sharp rap on his head from her ever-present staff at the term. "But even though I think Shampoo and I could be friends some day, I don't think I'll ever feel about her the way you'd like me to feel."

"Possibly" she agreed. But a smile came to her wrinkled face "but you can't blame an old woman for trying now can you? Do you think I've spent all this time trying to get you in the tribe just to keep my great-granddaughter happy?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"Nonsense...or should I say...not really. Of course I'd like Shampoo to be happy, but I'm looking out for the tribe, and I know that you would be an asset. I'm doing this as much for the tribe as I am for Shampoo" she admitted.

"Well, don't get your hopes up. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this mess...or for that matter if there is anything I can do. Pops has managed to get me in so many commitments I still don't know how I can get out of them even if I did figure out what I wanted"

"Too true son-in-law." Cologne sighed, even she was stumped in this regard. That fool Genma had managed to make such a mess out of this young man's life that even she hadn't figured out how to untangle things. Every time she came up with a plan that might help Shampoo win his heart, it was thwarted by the impact it would have on Ranma to walk away from all of his other engagements. The poor boy had no hope of developing a relationship while so many conflicting forces were vying for him.

"Cologne?"

Cologne's head snapped up as she ceased her internal debate. _What? No old-ghoul?_

"Yes Ranma?"

"Thanks. Thanks for a lot of things. I know you've always had an agenda, but I appreciate how much you've worked with me since you've been here. You've helped me out of a lot of bad jams, and I haven't forgot that. And thanks for taking the time for talking with me. Believe it or not, you've actually helped a bit. Well, at least you've helped me understand what that couple in the park was trying to say."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, it seems to me that you live by the very advice you just gave me. One reason why you're so good is that you're not doing this for just yourself. You're after me for Shampoo and the tribe as well. I guess that helps you keep going"

Cologne blinked at Ranma. _Ancestors! s_he thought. _He really is beginning to understand. If I don't manage to get him with Shampoo soon, who knows what could become of him... _"Yes Ranma, I suppose you are correct."

"Thanks again. I guess I should head back to the Tendo's, before somebody decides that life has gotten too peaceful for me. See ya around."

Cologne stayed on the ledge as Ranma left, watching him depart. Of course she wanted him for Shampoo and the tribe, but there was more than that. Yes, he was powerful, after defeating Herb and Saffron that was obvious, lately she had a hunch he would even be a challenge for her. But the biggest reason she wanted Ranma to go with them is that Cologne had realized a long time ago that Ranma was that rarest of people, a truly good person. Not only did he try to stand up for what was right, but he did everything in his power to protect those that he cared for. That was the type of person that even she wanted for the tribe, and...dare she say it...for a friend. She had to avoid thinking what she'd like to do to that fool Genma! Petty, violent thoughts did not become an Amazon elder.

What worried Cologne the most was that Ranma was at a turning point. If the log-jam that was his collection of problems didn't break free soon, he could end up like that ridiculous Hibiki boy, trapped in a depression spiral that would eventually consume him.

* * *

Elsewhere in Nerima, Gosunkugi was readying the delivery of his final attack. He had studied the scroll and its instructions for use and was confident he could execute the spell. It was quite simple really. Read the scroll, which took about 20 seconds, and toss it in the vicinity of the target. The spell would affect anybody nearby. As long as Akane wasn't around Ranma, Gos didn't care. His obsession with Akane had grown and grown. He no longer cared about consequences, just results. He would do anything...anything to get rid of the one obstacle between he and Akane. 

If he were more aware of his actions, he would have realized that he was going down the path of the Amazons. Obstacles are for killing...

Gos hummed to himself as he walked out his front door. Tonight would be very special indeed. Once and for all, Ranma Saotome would no longer be around to toy with his precious Akane.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Ranma had actually managed to get back to the Tendo's without some lunatic attacking him. _Thank goodness for small favors _he thought to himself. As he walked in the door, he noticed everyone sitting around waiting for dinner to be ready. As usual, nobody but Akane really seemed to care where he'd been, and as usual, she was the one who started the interrogation.

"Where have you been Ranma? Over to Ukyo's probably", she crossed her arms and glared at him.

Oh crap he thought here it comes again. She'll accuse me of some ridiculous thing, I'll deny it, and then she'll knock me out of the house for 'lying' to her.

"I've just been walking Akane. I haven't gone over to anybody's"

"Right Ranma" she was getting steamed up. "I suppose you were just deep in thought right?" The stupid tomboy chuckled at her own insult.

"Oh Ranma, could you give me a hand with this trash" called Kasumi from the kitchen.

_Yessss!_ "Sure Kasumi! Excuse me Akane, gotta go help your sister" he blurted as he scooted into the safe zone of the kitchen.

"Raaaanmaa" she yelled. But fortunately for Ranma, she decided she'd deal with him later. After all, where was he going to go?

Ranma walked over to the trash and bundled the bag up, relieved to have been saved from Akane and her best friend, the ever-present Mallet-sama.

"So Ranma, any progress with your question yet?" Kasumi asked.

"Well, yes and no. I think I understand my problem a little better now. The problem is, I still don't know how to answer it yet" he said as he started out the back door with the trash.

"Wait, I'll come with you. I have a couple of things that wouldn't fit in the bag"

As they walked out back to the bins, Kasumi pursued the issue "So what have you learned so far?"

"Well, to make a long story short, everybody I know seems to be just as obsessed as I am about being the best about something, so they aren't much help. I did find an old couple at the park that helped and believe it or not, Cologne had some interesting things to say."

Kasumi smiled "Well, I'm sure you don't get to be a respected Elder at her village by just being old,"

"Yeah, I suppose you are right. Anyways, according to them, many people find happiness and satisfaction by caring for others, and not by being the best at a single thing. According to them, the fact that you are caring for other people helps give you better direction and a fuller life."

They dumped the trash and started to head back in. As they walked back Kasumi continued the discussion. "So Ranma, do you think they are right?"

"Dunno...well, I suppose I do, deep inside. The problem is, how do you find someone that you care so much for?"

"That is a tough question indeed." Kasumi answered. "Sometimes no matter how hard you work at something like that, what you need is some luck and the right opportunity."

Kasumi stopped, looked back and said "Go ahead Ranma, I think I dropped a recipe I had in my pocket. I'll be in in just a minute"

"Ok Kasumi, see you inside" he said as he walked back to the kitchen door.

Nabiki got up to answer the door. _Who would be stopping by at this time _she thought to herself. _Probably Shampoo with some drug riddled meal for Mr. Martial Artist _she mused.

To her surprise, it was Hikaru Gosunkugi. She had come across him occasionally at school, he was one of the customers for her pictures of Akane. "Hello, may I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, may I speak to Ranma for a moment? I promise I'll be quick."

"Sure, come on in." Nabiki led the creepy young man back to the main room where she had seen Ranma just a few moments before"

--

Cologne was sitting in her room as her favorite cup split down the middle. As soon as it broke, she had the strongest feeling of dread that she had ever experienced in all of her years. _Something big is about to happen, and knowing this place, it is about to happen to Ranma._ She grabbed her staff and raced down the stairs.

"Great grandmother, what is happening?" Shampoo asked as her grandmother came racing down the steps.

"No time to explain..." she gasped "follow me!" She bolted out the door as Shampoo joined her in a mad dash to the Tendo's. She wasn't sure what was about to happen, but it filled her with such dread, that she knew she had to try to stop whatever was about to occur.

--

"Hello Akane" Gosunkugi managed to squeak out. "Is Ranma here?"

"Oh hello, yes he just took out the trash, he should be right back. Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I felt bad about the trouble I've caused you and I wanted to make it up to you some how. I just found something that should help him with his curse. I wanted to tell him as soon as I could"

"What's that about the curse?" Ranma queried from the door of the kitchen.

"Oh! Hello Ranma. I wanted to apologize to you for the trouble I've caused you. You know I deal with magic, and I've been trying to find a way to help you. I found this scroll at a shop the other day" he unrolled the parchment. He steeled himself the the events to come, he knew he'd only have one chance at this. "I ah...did a little research and I think you should hear what is on this scroll".

Ranma furrowed his brow. "Why?"

Hikaru cursed his luck, he was hoping he wouldn't have to do any explaining, but he did have this covered. "Well" he began. "I found a scroll that when read, helps the victim of a curse know where the source of its cure is. If I'm correct, it should let you know where to find the nearest cure."

Ranma, being who he was, was skeptical but decided it might be worth the risk. "Okay, go ahead."

Hikaru unrolled the scroll and started to read from it.

Ranma couldn't understand a word he was saying. It sounded like Chinese, but he couldn't be sure. He figured he'd be patient and maybe he would explain more he was done. Although as Gosunkugi continued to read, his danger sense started going off...

--

Cologne hopped over the wall around the Tendo compound. She had lost Shampoo a few moments earlier. As Cologne dashed to the door near the Koi pond, she heard someone chanting some ancient Chinese. Her blood ran cold as she recognized what the speaker was saying. _Oh please, not that...please don't let it be that some fool has somehow found one of those scrolls..._ But in her heart, she knew she wasn't mistaken. The chant described the world of 'yesterday' and how the receiver would know no escape. Cologne burst threw the door as the final words were spoken. She knew it was too late, but she at least hoped whatever idiot had found the scroll didn't know how to use it. 

Gosunkugi finished the last words on the scroll as the door next to him burst open. _Yes, it's going to work! _He screamed to himself. An ancient women wielding a staff crashed into the room as he hurled the now glowing scroll toward his bitter enemy, Ranma Saotome

Ranma wasn't sure what to do as Gosunkugi threw the glowing scroll toward him. Just as he decided to jump away, he heard a voice behind him utter a surprised "Oh my!". He realized Kasumi had returned to the kitchen and had come up behind him as the scroll arced toward both he and Kasumi. He decided to try to knock the scroll away when it burst into a large glowing blue sphere and enveloped him in a soft blue light.

Cologne saw the scroll sail toward Ranma and her stomach dropped as she knew there was nothing she could do to stop the process. Her years of quick reflexes kicked in however, and in a split second she made a last-ditch effort to help the poor boy. _After all, it won't hurt anything if this doesn't work, and if ANYBODY could figure out how to come back, it would be RANMA. _She reached into her dress and pulled out a small gold key on a chain. She winced as she yanked the chain loose and threw it to Ranma quickly yelling "GO TO THE VILLAGE!".

As everyone else watched, they saw a fading Ranma catch the key, a look of confusion on his face as he and Kasumi faded from view. Within seconds, all that was left was a smoking scroll on the ground in front of the kitchen door. Ranma Saotome and Kasumi Tendo had vanished.

--

"What the hell just happened?" yelled Akane to the smiling maniac that called himself Gosunkugi.

"Oh sorry about that, I didn't mean to get the other girl." Gosunkugi muttered. He stopped cold as he looked at the old woman who was know standing across from him.

He had never really known fear before. Oh, it was true, he wasn't the happiest kid at school. But with all the teasing and taunting, he still felt comfortable that one day he would prevail, that he would show everyone that he wasn't one to be toyed with. One look at the old woman though and he knew that he would be lucky if he walked out of here alive.

Cologne lashed out at the boy, striking his temple. He immediately collapsed into a boneless heap.

"Cologne! What have you done? You've killed him" Nabiki yelled.

"Would somebody just tell me what is going on. Where's Ranma? Where's Kasumi" demanded Akane.

"Soun, take the boy and lock him away before I lose control and kill him right there where he is" she hissed. "No child, I did not kill him, but when you understand what he just did, you may want to kill him yourself."

"Why? What just happened" asked Nabiki.

Nobody tried to move the collapsed boy, as each was interested in what Cologne might say.

"In our village, we have collected many different magic artifacts over the years. Some are good, some are bad, and some are so terrible, that we keep them locked up just so they don't fall into hands like this fools" she glanced down at Gosunkugi. "One of the more terrible scrolls is the Scroll of Yesterday."

"Oh that's not too terrible" Genma breathed a sigh of relief, "We'll just go to wherever Ranma was yesterday and get him."

"Excellent idea Saotome. He and Kasumi will be right-as-rain!" Soun agreed.

"No you fools! It isn't that simple! It was said to be used only on the Amazon's most hated enemies. For whatever reason, these foes were not to be killed outright, but instead banished to a world that contained no life, no hope, where they would be imprisoned forever. The yesterday they were sent to is a place is left behind when anything alive with Ki moves to the next day." Cologne explained.

"I don't understand" questioned Akane "What does that mean, doesn't everything have Ki?"

"No child, it is true that Ki is generated by life, but it is animal life that actually generates it. It is true that plants and soil can hold much of the Ki that is generated by the animals. But just like plants are the ones that make the air we breathe, we make the Ki that helps the plants continue to thrive. Ki is the life force of change, without it, plants wouldn't necessarily die, but neither would they produce new life. The world where those two poor children were sent to looks exactly like what you see around you, but without any animal life at all."

"But that means..." Soun started

"...that there are no people either" Nabiki finished.

"Exactly. Nobody knows how long the yesterday lasts, and it is thought that the presence of any significant Ki source might power up and maintain it for a long time, but eventually, it will begin to unravel. That is when 'they' will emerge." she finished darkly.

"Great grandmother, who is 'they'?"

"The Scavengers of Yesterday. Our legends describe them as the eaters of life. Nobody knows what they look like, because nobody has ever returned from 'Yesterday'. The best knowledge we have is from one or two visions from some of our most experienced Elders over the generations."

"Well, surely there must be some way of getting them back?" asked Genma.

"I wish I could say there was. But thanks to that fool on the floor, both Ranma and Kasumi have been banished to a realm where we can do nothing to help them."

Akane looked at the old woman, now slumped in resignation. "Cologne, when Ranma was fading out, you threw him something. What was it?"

"Nothing more than the wildest of chances. I know of nothing that we can do to help the boy, but it is possible there might be something in our archives that might provide some clue, some inspiration, for Ranma to use to return home. After all, he does seem to have a knack for the impossible. That item was a key to the Amazon archives. If he heard me, and if he can figure out how to read them, and I grant you those are both big 'ifs', maybe son-in-law might figure out some way of returning."

"But great grandmother, is forbidden for anyone but most senior Elders to view those books!" Shampoo gushed.

"Shampoo, the odds are Ranma will never be back, and I was effectively just throwing the key away. No harm can come of my actions."

Everyone fell silent, as they looked at the form still slumped on the floor. Nabiki was the first to speak. "So effectively, this worthless scum just managed to get rid of my sister and Ranma without leaving any bodies for evidence."

"Unfortunately, you have summed it up rather nicely" agreed Cologne.

"Waaaah! The schools will never be joined, and I've lost my precious Kasumi!" wailed Soun.

"Oh to be cursed with such a worthless son, defeated by such a cowardly foe." Genma replied to Soun. _And know I've lost my retirement plan. Think Genma think! How can we still join the schools?_

Nodoka looked devastated. Her son was gone! As good as dead, and nobody, nobody could help. "Is there truly nothing we can do Elder?"

"I'm sorry child. There are few things that are as final as the spell that was used on your son. I know of nothing that will bring him back."

"He'd better not try anything perverted with my sister" Akane announced.

Nodoka looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "My son and your sister have been sentenced to a slow and lonely death, and your only concern is that Ranma not try anything perverted? He's your fiancee Have you no feelings for him?"

"Why should I, I'm sure he'll figure out a way to come back. He always does. Humph...he just loves the spotlight."

"Didn't you hear Cologne you foolish girl! Nobody knows how to come back!"

"I don't care...good riddance" she stated as she stood up and left for upstairs.

Cologne just shook her head. What a waste! Why Ranma was ever paired up with such a fickle female was beyond her. Well, actually considering Genma had a hand in it, I suppose it shouldn't surprise her. "If you'll excuse us, I believe we should be returning home. My sympathies Soun and Nodoka, on the loss of your children. Now I must do something extremely unpleasant, but if anybody deserves it, it is this boy here.

Cologne walked over to where the scroll was lying on the ground. She reached down and lifted it up, unrolling as she walked over to Gosunkugi, who was just beginning to come to after the pressure point attack. Cologne began to read the scroll.

Nodoka was shocked, could Cologne be doing what she thought? "Cologne, what are you doing?"

"Why, administering justice. According to Amazon law, the penalty for using this item without authorization is simple, the user is subjected to the very scroll they used. " Cologne looked at their shocked faces. "What would you have us do instead. Nobody else would believe what was done, and if I did anything physical to the boy, I'm sure one of the friendly Japanese authorities would have no problem deporting me. This way, we have three missing teenagers instead of two, and at least in our hearts we'll know justice has been done."

The scroll once again began to glow, and Gosunkugi looked up with fear as the scroll was thrown in his direction.

"Nooooooo" he screamed as the blue glow enveloped his prone form. Soon, he also faded from view.

Nabiki was still shocked, but that angry part of her was glad Cologne had the gumption to administer a suitable punishment quickly and with a finality that nobody could argue with. "What if he tries to hurt Ranma or Kasumi?"

"Ah, you misunderstand how the scroll operates. For every moment, there is a new yesterday. The world this boy was sent to will appear almost identical to the ones Ranma and Kasumi were sent to, but they won't be the same. That boy will be all alone, and without the huge Ki reserves of son-in-law, it will be only a short time until the Eaters of Yesterday appear and remove him and his surroundings"

Akane just stated at the spot where Gosunkugi was lying moments ago. All she could add was a simple "Oh".

Cologne began to hop toward the door. "Well, you must excuse us. I believe it is time we returned to our own home, come Shampoo, Mousse"

And with that, the Amazons left the house, leaving the occupants to deal with the loss of Ranma and Kasumi.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As the glowing scroll arced toward Ranma, he positioned himself to take the brunt of whatever bizarre attack which might occur. To his surprise, all that happened was that he and Kasumi were enveloped in some type of a blue glow. At the same time, he saw a very agitated Cologne burst in through the door. She took one look at him and threw him a key that she seemed to carry around her neck. She was shouting something that sounded like "Goku thawillij", as she and the others became transparent. As he caught the key, which quickly went from transparent to fully opaque in his hand, he saw everyone but Kasumi fade from view. As the others faded, Ranma felt an immediate wrongness around him. He didn't have any words to describe the feeling. It was a combination of not being able to breathe, a huge weight applied to him, and the feeling that there was a Ki vacuum around him, wanting to draw the life force from him. His immediate reaction was to fight the drawing at his Ki, but his inner danger sense started screaming at him so he instead decided to shoulder the burden and to try to support the draw on his inner energies. He wasn't sure, but initially the room seemed to grow gray and lifeless, but when he allowed the surroundings to draw on his Ki, the room returned to normal. Within a few more seconds, the glow faded and he and Kasumi stood in an empty room.

_What the heck was that_ he thought. Ranma looked back at Kasumi. "Are you all right Kasumi?"

"Yes, I believe I am. Ranma, where did everybody go?" asked a somewhat worried Kasumi.

_Geesh, even a little worry on Kasumi looks pretty serious _thought Ranma. "I'm not sure Kasumi. Gosunkugi threw that stupid glowing scroll at us, but instead of doing something to us, it seemed to make everybody else seemed to disappear." _Not to mention creating this weird draw on my Ki _he thought.

Kasumi looked around the house, and saw nothing out of place. "I hope that everyone is OK. It looks like nothing happened to the room. I wonder what that scroll did to them."

"Don't know Kasumi. What worries me is that I'm not sure who to ask. We don't seem to have the scroll, and I'd guess that only Cologne would know what it did." Ranma looked down, obviously trying to come up with some solution. _I wish I knew why things feel so…lifeless around here. _Within a few moments his face lit up with a smile. "How about Doc Tofu? He might be able to help!"

Kasumi beamed at Ranma. "That sounds like a wonderful idea Ranma!"

_Oh heck, why did I suggest Tofu. With Kasumi here, we'll never get any answers. _Ranma quickly tried to think of how to handle the potential dangerous situation he was putting himself in. _Crap, I guess I'll have to ask Kasumi to wait outside when we get there. Got to be careful about mentioning her name though._

They both headed for the door, eager to find answers to the mystery before them. As they walked through house, it was eerily quiet. It didn't take long for them to realize that the missing people in the house were not the only thing wrong. As they went out the front gate of the Tendo compound, the continuing silence hit them both. Gone was the normal background hum of the normally busy district of Nerima. Instead, what greeted them was an absolute, uncanny silence.

"Ranma, something is wrong…it seems so quiet? We seem to be the only ones here."

"I don't know" agreed Ranma. "It sounds spooky…or it doesn't sound spooky…oh you know what I mean."

"Yes I do" she whispered in the dead quiet of the middle of the day. She was amazed at how she could hear the slightest bit of gravel crunch under her shoes. As they walked out the front gate, they looked up and down the quiet street.

"Let's try next door" she suggested. Ranma nodded in agreement and followed Kasumi next door where an older couple lived. She knocked on the front door only to be greeted by continued dead silence.

Ranma once again used his keen powers of observation and stated the obvious. "Looks like they're not home."

"You may be right Ranma, but do you hear anything at all?"

"Nope"

"Not even their dog?"

Ranma felt a chill go down his spine. The neighbor's dog was always home even when they went somewhere, and was one of those small dogs who was constantly barking at the slightest sound. That darned dog used to drive him bonkers whenever he walked by the house. In fact, the couple owned one dog, several cats, had a large fish tank... "No, not even their dog" he agreed. He stepped around Kasumi and opened the door.

"Do you think we should?" worried Kasumi.

Ranma looked back over his shoulder. "Yeah, we might as well check this out first before we go to Tofu. Maybe it will give us a clue." He stepped in through the door. "Anybody home?" he yelled to the empty house.

Silence and the echo of his voice was the only answer. They both stepped in through the door and tentatively made it down the hall, their steps sounding exceptionally loud in their ears. When they came to the main room, they both looked around, looking for any clue as to where everyone went. Most people mistakenly thought Kasumi was oblivious to her surroundings, in fact, she was just incredibly calm and centered. She didn't see anything out of place, instead, it was the lack of something that increased her level of concern.

"Ranma, I'm starting to get worried now. I don't think our family disappeared after all."

Ranma stopped his searching and looked back at Kasumi, confusion written on his face. "What do you mean?"

She walked over to the large fish tank. The large…empty…fish tank. She looked at Ranma and simply said "The fish are gone too."

"Ok, so the fish are gone, what does that mean?"

Kasumi knew Ranma was trying to figure this out as well, so she decided to try to be patient with him. "Ranma, if the people just went somewhere for a little bit, or for that matter even a long visit, do you think they would bring their fish with them?"

"No, they wouldn't bring them" he agreed. "So, what does that" he stopped in mid-sentence. He looked around the room again and it finally hit him. No dogs, no cats, no fish, no people…that overall lifeless feeling he felt around him. _No! Please not that!_ He extended his senses to detect the ever-present fields of Ki that were a part of all life around them, only to find that the only other Ki signature he could detect was Kasumi. Period. "Come on Kasumi, let's get to Tofu's right now. I hope you're wrong about this, but I have a bad feeling you aren't"

They walked back out of the house and proceeded to Tofu's clinic. As they walked along the streets, the same sights greeted their every step. No people, no animals, nothing moving at all. Ranma was concerned enough about what had actually happened that he didn't even plan on having Kasumi stay out of Tofu's office when they got there. Neither of them said a word during this silent journey, and by the time they reached Tofu's clinic, they both knew what to expect even before they opened the door.

They weren't surprised to find that Tofu's clinic was as empty as everywhere else they had been. After touring the lifeless clinic, they both sat down on a couch in his waiting area. Kasumi was the first to break the awkward silence. "Ranma, I think that the scroll didn't do something to everyone else, instead it did something to us after all. We seem to be the only ones left…or maybe the only ones here. I'm not sure how, but it seems like this looks like Nerima, but somehow it isn't _really _Nerima."

"I'm not sure what happened either" he agreed. "But I think you may be right. I can't feel anybody else's Ki signatures. It's funny, I never really noticed it before, but it was like a familiar background buzz. Now that it's gone, it feels just as strange as this silence sounds." He turned to look at her worried face.

"Do you really think we're the only ones left?" she asked.

He gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, it kinda feels like it." He couldn't keep her gaze and looked back across the vacant street again.

"Do you know how to get us back?"

Man, he hated to admit when he was stuck! "No Kasumi, I don't. But don't worry, I promise I'll get us back, heck nothing's ever stopped me before has it?" He boasted. Just saying the words made him feel a little better. "We'll figure out something, let's go back home and come up with a plan there." He stood up and said. "Come on, let's go home."

They made the unnaturally quiet walk back to their house and went inside. As they took off their shoes, the ever present Saotome hunger let itself be heard with a noticeable rumble. Ranma looked sheepishly at Kasumi. "Sorry Kasumi, it's been a while since I had something to eat."

She laughed. "Now it's my turn to tell _you_ to not worry. It's nice to now that not everything changed. I'll make us some dinner." She headed into the kitchen while Ranma sat down in front of the TV. He was surprised to see that some stations were broadcasting, and others were not. "Hey Kasumi look there's some stuff on TV!"

Kasumi quickly came out of the kitchen. "Really! Maybe we aren't the only ones after all!" She sat down next to Ranma and watched as he searched through the channels. Their hopes were soon dashed as they both realized that the News channels were blank, and it was only stations broadcasting recorded programs that were on the air.

Her smile faltered a bit, and she finally admitted. "Oh well, looks like we are alone after all. I guess the only shows working are the ones that were on automatic" she said.

Ranma didn't have anything else to add and Kasumi stood and went back into the kitchen to make dinner. "Kasumi, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the dojo to do some katas for a bit. Could you give me a call when dinner is ready?"

Kasumi hid her disappointment. She really didn't want to be alone right now, but she knew that Ranma would find comfort in his art, and she was willing to work in the quiet for a bit if it helped him. "Certainly Ranma, I'll call you when I'm done"

--

Kasumi hadn't finished preparing dinner when she heard Ranma come back into the kitchen. "Ranma, dinner's not ready yet. You could have stayed longer….."

Ranma felt awkward about this, but he knew how quiet it was while he was practicing. In many ways, it was a wonderful new experience. He could sense how much it had bothered Kasumi earlier, and as he worked out he started feeling…guilty…about leaving Kasumi by herself. He decided that he should probably come and keep her company in the kitchen. His instincts (and the voice of his father) told him that he shouldn't worry about a girl's feelings, but the quiet around him kept reminding him how abnormal their situation was. In the end, the quiet helped convince him to go visit Kasumi. Ranma looked at her sheepishly, before he finally said. "Well, it was kinda quiet in there. I never thought I'd say this, but it was too quiet to practice. I thought I'd…ah…see if you needed any help?"

The smile that appeared on her face confirmed that he had said the right thing. "Why thank you Ranma, I'd love to have the company. I know what you mean; it seems so quiet without all of your silly friends barging in."

"Yeah, and without Akane screaming at me for one thing or another." He finished.

"Why don't you set the table while I finish this last dish"

"Sure thing!" He immediately grabbed the dishes, cups, bowls and utensils and with a mad flurry of activity, set the table for their meal.

Kasumi brought over the meal and the two of them made short work of the delicious food, or rather, Ranma made his usual short work of the meal.

"You know Ranma" she said as the last of the noodles seemed to teleport off of his plate. "Without your father here, I don't think you need to eat quite so fast." Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she watched his realization of the situation.

"Uh…yeah…I suppose you're right Kasumi. I'll try to do better next time." Ranma looked down at his plate. "Sorry…"

"Oh that's quite alright. I understand what your father put you through. I just thought we might as well look at this as a vacation until we figure out how to get back. You know, nobody can bother you while you are here."

Ranma sat and thought about what Kasumi said. A smile slowly spread across his face. _A vacation…yeah! Nobody to bother me, no un-cute tomboys, not violent Ryoga, no lunatic Kuno, or plotting fathers!_ "Ok, I think I can do that. I don't think I've ever had a vacation before. I've always been with Pops…never had any quiet…except up on the roof sometime."

"Well, I have a feeling that finding quiet will be the least of your problems." She paused, and Ranma could tell she was considering something. "I suppose…I could…make sure and not bother you while we are here." Kasumi looked down at her plate as well.

"Kasumi, you are the one person who has never bothered me! Besides, even though quiet is nice, it's kinda nice to have you around." He paused, looking contemplative. "You know, you're the only I can ever think of that's ever really been always nice to me. I feel…peaceful when you're around. I…kinda like it"

"Why thank you Ranma. I must admit, it was nice when you came back from the dojo before dinner was ready. I liked the company as well"

"Great. OK. Well let me help clean up…if that's OK" he said softly.

"Thank you, I'd love the help." She was only somewhat surprised that Ranma had offered to help. She knew that he normally kept up the image of tough guy to satisfy the bizarre desires of his father and mother. Without them around, the nice part of him that was normally hiding in the background could safely come out. She led the way to the kitchen, with Ranma following behind.

----

Ranma and Kasumi didn't realize the impact they had on the world they had been sent to, but the others certainly did. Just as an inoculation can protect the target host, so did the presence of Ranma, the human Ki battery, on this world. Cologne was correct in her identification of the scroll. It had indeed sent Ranma and Kasumi to "yesterday", a normally dreary lifeless world that had a very limited lifespan. That lifespan being terminated by uncaring creatures whose sole bizarre responsibility was to remove said world from existence. Ranma's life force was enough to effectively keep this current world in a 'standby' status, rather than letting it 'shutdown' in its usual manner. Of course being in standby was far different than normal operation, which eventually would become evident to both human inhabitants. All in all, they were extremely fortunate that Ranma had the natural Ki reserves that he was sharing with the world around them.

Hikaru Gosunkugi, however, was not so lucky.

----

Hikaru was somewhat disoriented as he started to awaken from Cologne's pressure point attack. His vision was just clearing as he heard Cologne recite the words that he had just recently spoken himself, and he didn't have the coordination yet to even attempt to get out of the way when she lobbed the scroll in his direction.

As he lay on the floor of the dojo, he watched the people surrounding him become translucent and then fade from view. This was no surprise to him, as he knew how the scroll worked and where he had been sent. By the time he was fully recovered from his condition, the finality of his situation hit him and he continued to sit on the floor in an uncontrolled fit of depression.

"Why, oh why did this have to happen" he wailed. "All I wanted was to be with the beautiful Akane. The only reason they probably did this to me was to avenge the disappearance of their sister. Didn't they realize that was an accident?"

He surveyed his surroundings and noticed two things immediately. First, everyone was gone as he expected. Well, actually it wasn't that they were gone, as much as he had been sent to the past. The scroll described this place as "Yesterday", a place where the static pieces of the world were sent as life moved on. Judging by the plants he still saw in the yard, the scroll meant animal life, not all life.

The other thing he noticed was the overall dull, lifeless look that everything had. Colors seemed to be washed out and as he got up and walked around the room he noticed that any noises he made seemed to be unusually muffled. His own clothes, even though they were mostly black, seemed to stand out with their darker and less muted colors. His skin also seemed to have its normal pasty shade, and was not as drab as his current surroundings. The scroll had referred to something that lived in this place named "Lan-goh-leers" or at least, that was the closest he could come to the pronunciation. If he was lucky, they would be friendly and they were some type of people that might help him return home. He went to the kitchen looking for food and was able to find some rolls in refrigerator. He returned to the table and sat down, inspecting the food he had found in his trip to the kitchen. The food seemed as washed out as his surroundings. He suspected that it had to do with this place and was not indicative of the quality of the food itself. He took tentative bit, only to grimace as he swallowed the strangely tasteless but unpleasant bite of food. _Oh great, I won't be able to eat anything while I'm here._ This sent him into another round of depression, where he merely sat and brooded at the table, still holding the roll in his right hand.

After a short while, he decided he should at least force himself to eat the bland food before him. As he looked at the food in his hand, he noticed that the roll he was holding now seemed to be brighter, and more normally colored than those on the plate

_That's odd. _He thought to himself. _I guess I must have 'warmed it up' by holding it long enough._ He confirmed his theory with the next bite. He quickly downed the roll and then with quick insight, placed some of the rolls in his pocket. _I'll just 'warm them up' by keeping them with me and then I can eat them later._ He was pleased; he would figure a way out of this. Now all he had to do is find those langalo-somethings and see if they could help him.

Like a lamb to the slaughter, Hikaru set off to find the inhabitants of this strange dead world.

* * *

_Author's Note: I'd like to thank again everyone for their kind reviews. I'm glad that so many seem to be enjoying the story._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

After dinner, Ranma asked Kasumi if he could help her do the dishes. She gladly accepted and they worked on cleaning the table. As he helped her with the dishes, the inevitable cold water managed to connect with Ranma, shifting him to his more petite form.

"I'm Sorry Ranma" Kasumi said as she noticed the shift in gender and hair color. "Would you like some warm water?"

"No, don't worry about it now. I'm sure more will find me before we're through here" she looked away from Kasumi and said softly "I'm sorry you got stuck with me. I usually have a way of making things worse instead of better, plus I know my 'condition' bothers you..."

Kasumi quickly countered. "You're wrong Ranma."

Ranma stood there and gave her the, 'Oh come on...' look. "About what?"

"About both things" she began. "First, it's true that your life can be somewhat…interesting at times. But I saw what you did when that boy threw the scroll at us. You were about to jump away, but you stayed to protect me. How did that make things worse? Without you, I'd be here…" She paused and looked around. "…All by myself. I'm very happy you were there."

"But…If I wasn't there, you wouldn't have been at risk in the first place."

Kasumi thought about that, and then smiled and said "Well, you might be right, but as I recall, that boy was obsessed with Akane. Who knows what he would have done if you hadn't been there. I'm not going to play the 'should-a would-a could-a' game with you. All I know is I'm glad you're here right now, otherwise I'd be all by myself."

Ranma looked at her beautiful smile and was amazed that somebody could be so understanding and forgiving. She knew Kasumi was nice, heck, she was the only one who never demanded or expected something from him. But Kasumi had always stayed in the background, being supportive, but in a remote kind of way. Plus she was always trying to help everyone. She had never really had her interact directly with him before, and she was still amazed out how so…nice…she could be.

"Well…thanks Kasumi. I'll try to be the best company I can while we're here."

"That would be great Ranma, and as far as your curse goes. It really doesn't bother me. I've never seen you try to take advantage of it. You may not always be the perfect gentlemen, but that's usually due to your lack of social experience. As near as I can tell, you have a good heart, and that counts for a lot. Whether you are a boy or a girl really doesn't affect how I view you." She smiled at him in conclusion, bringing a slight blush to both of their faces.

"Yeah, but when I first got here, you couldn't wait for me to be paired up with Akane..."

"Oh Ranma, that wasn't due to your curse...well, not mostly. I admit the curse had me...surprised... at first. My biggest concern was that you were younger and immature. And in that way, I was right. But the point is, I've found that even though you can be a bit rough around the edges, you're like a fine piece of unfinished wood. You may be rough on the outside, but inside is a warmth and detail that you can't see from the outside."

"…thanks again, I guess."

Kasumi looked at the clock at then said "Ranma, I'm going to clean up now that dinner's done. Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure thing!" she quickly exclaimed.

"Could you stay in the room outside of the furo while I'm in there? It's so quiet around the house…it kind of makes me...a little afraid. It would help if I could talk to you while I'm in there."

"Are you sure Kasumi?" Alarms started going off in Ranma's head.

"Yes. Please?"

"All right. If you're sure…" She had a bad feeling about this, but she followed her anyways.

--------

A short time later, they were both back in the main room of the house. Much to Ranma's surprise, absolutely nothing happened while she waited outside of the door with Kasumi. No awkward situations, no "Ranma, you're such a pervert" from anybody. No Ryoga crashing in announcing "Ranma, prepare to die". He sat with his back against the door while Kasumi cleaned up. They shared some small conversation about where Ranma thought Gosunkugi got the scroll from, but after a bit, Kasumi reappeared when she was finished they exchanged places, with Kasumi outside of the door. Ranma quickly cleaned up and returned to his male form and then both returned downstairs.

Ranma felt foolish. He was so used to everything he tried to do going wrong, that he was shocked when the simple favor he performed for Kasumi _didn't_ blow up in his face. It was a new and unique feeling to do something, no matter how small or simple, for somebody and have it go right..

They went out into the yard around the koi pond and looked up at the stars. As near as Ranma could tell, everything looked like it was in its proper place. All the constellations he was familiar with after spending hours and hours on the roof were still there.

"Do you really think we'll figure out how to get back Ranma?" Kasumi asked sitting on the porch looking up at the night sky.

Ranma continued to gaze into the sky. "Sure Kasumi, heck I'll bet everyone at home is scrambling trying to get us back. I'm sure our Dads will have some ideas, and if nothing else the old ghoul will figure out something."

Kasumi turned to Ranma. "Ranma, what did Cologne throw to you at the last minute?"

Ranma face twisted into a puzzled expression as he reached into his pocket pulling out the key. "Only this, just a key. She said something about 'Goku's something' I think. Don't know quite what to do with it."

Kasumi looked at the small golden key in the palm of his hand. "I think she may have said 'Go to the village'. Do you think she meant her village?"

Ranma tried to remember the last moments before everything changed. "Well, it makes more sense than what I thought I heard. I think you're right Kasumi. She may have said 'go to the village'. But…I'm not sure we should try anything right away."

"Why is that?"

"Well, with all the traveling Pops and me did. One thing that he taught me, that always seemed to be good advice, is that when you get separated from somebody, the best thing to do is stay where you last saw 'em. The minute you try to go find them somewhere else, you most always end up getting more lost. Before we even think of going to China, we should stay here for a while, give everyone a chance to try to pull us back first."

Kasumi thought about that and finally agreed with him. "That sounds like a good idea. I hope they figure out something soon. I never thought so much quiet could bother me so much."

They sat there for a while, listening to the slight breeze. They were so used to the normal rhythm of the night, the dogs barking, cars going by, cicadas buzzing, that this unnatural silence was getting to both of them.

Ranma didn't want to tell Kasumi, but he was completely exhausted from the Ki drain he had supported since the scroll incident earlier today. _Feels worse than some of the Old Ghoul's training._ Even though he was tired, he knew he could handle the load, he just wouldn't have a lot of extra energy for other things until he could handle the drain easier.

After another few minutes of looking into the night sky, they both decided to head upstairs and try to get some sleep.

Ranma escorted Kasumi to her room and then proceeded to his own. As he lay down on his futon, he was struck again at how strange it was not to hear the normal pulse of the house as people settled in for the night. No Nabiki making last minute trips to the kitchen, no Akane bumping around in her room and strangest of all, no heavy breathing and snoring of his father.

Ranma was amazed at how such a little thing could seem so huge. He never really stopped to consider how much time he and his father had been together before this. _I guess pop and I really have gone through a lot. It's gonna be strange without him standing behind me yelling and bossing me around._

He was trying not to obsess about every little creaking noise that he heard in the house when he detected movement in Kasumi's room. He tracked her steps as she went out her door and approached his own.

"Ranma" a soft voice called from beyond the door.

"Yeah Kasumi, I'm awake, come on in."

The door opened and Kasumi peeked out around the half open door. "Ranma, I don't think I can sleep all alone tonight in my room tonight. I know we may be the only ones here, but I still expect something unpleasant to appear. The quiet is too creepy."

"We could get Nabiki's radio from her room and turn on some music, or at least one of her CDs?" he offered.

"I don't think it would be the same" she hesitated, and she seemed to be deciding something. "Would you mind bringing you futon into my room. I hate to ask you, but I'm sure I'm not going to be able to sleep in that room by myself. I keep thinking how alone I am, and how empty everything seems."

Actually, as awkward as it may seem to be in Kasumi's room, it sounded kind of good to him too. But..."Are you sure Kasumi?"

She simply nodded once.

"Sure Kasumi, it would be no problem at all, just a minute."

"Thank you Ranma. I promise I won't bother you tonight." She definitely looked relieved that she wouldn't have to be by herself tonight.

Ranma got up and bundled up his futon and followed Kasumi into her room. _Yeah right, as if Kasumi could bother anybody. I just hope I don't talk in my sleep or somethin' _ In all of his time at the Tendo's he had never really been in Kasumi's room. He wasn't surprised to see that it was warm, friendly, and decorated with simple yet beautiful pictures of landscapes and far-away places.

Ranma spotted a place that wasn't too close to her bed. "How about right here?"

"That would be fine Ranma-kun".

Ranma quickly arranged his bed and returned to the floor, while Kasumi went back to hers.

"Goodnight Ranma. Thanks for keeping me company."

"Goodnight Kasumi, no problem"

And so, they drifted off to sleep, comforted with the proximity of the only other human present on this world. Both hoping that tomorrow would bring some good news or some sign that they would be getting out of this strange place soon.

--

Life that evening at the Tendo's wasn't quite as peaceful. The Amazons had left, and the remaining people were still in shock over what had happened. Soun, as expected, was overcome by grief and was sitting in the yard staring at the koi pond wondering how things had gotten so far out of control. He heard someone walking up behind him but didn't care to see who it was.

Nabiki spoke while still standing behind her father. "Don't worry Daddy. If anyone can figure out how to beat this thing, it would be Ranma. He's had plenty of strange things happen before, and he's always beaten them."

Soun didn't bother to turn around and look at his middle daughter. "I wish I could believe that, but if what the Elder Cologne said is true, I think this may be a challenge even beyond the boy's talents. This isn't something he can beat with his feet and fists."

"I know, but I've watched that fool pull out miracle after miracle, and if there is one thing Ranma is good at doing, it's taking care of his friends and family. Somehow, I'm sure he'll do the impossible and bring her back to us."

"I hope so Nabiki, I certainly hope so."

Nabiki decided to change the subject to another touchy matter. "Have you talked to Akane any?"

"No. As far as I know, she went up to her room after the incident. I haven't seen her since."

"Daddy, Kasumi was the one to always calm Akane down when this stuff happened. Without her here, I think Akane may have some real trouble with this..."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Look, we both know that Akane has a certain...affection...for Ranma." She continued before he could interrupt. "I know she may have...violent mood swings, and that half the time she seems she's trying to kill the fool. The problem is, she still likes him in her own way, and Ranma has always been there for her. I'm not sure how she will take this when she has time to think about it."

"That is true Nabiki. I'll try to have a talk with her."

"Thanks Daddy." Nabiki saw Genma come through the door and decided that this was a good time to leave. "Don't forget, you promised to talk to her..." she said over her shoulder as she passed the arriving Genma.

"Soun my friend! I'm sure that Ranma will be back in no time. We'll have he and Akane wed any day now!

Soun continued to keep his back to Genma, instead continuing to gaze into the calm waters before him. "Genma, did you listen to the Amazons at all? The children aren't coming back!"

"Nonsense, I'm sure they'll be back by morning..."

"I don't think so." Evidently Nodoka had followed Genma out of the house and was now part of the conversation as well. "It sounds to me like after all these years of waiting for my son. A strange sickly child with a scroll managed to dispatch my son quite easily. I think it would be safe to say that my son wasn't very manly if he was so easily defeated. Don't you think so husband?"

"Now No-chan, I don't think we need to bring that up right now.."

"Oh I think we do. You obviously didn't train him well if he was so easily defeated. I'd like you to explain..."

Soun rose from his position and walked back into the house. The last thing he needed to do is to hear those two going at it. Each of them was so wrapped up in their own desires that it didn't matter what had happened. Somehow, it was going to be somebody else's fault. All he could think of was that his darling Kasumi was gone. The tears started to fall as he walked into the house, listening to the Saotomes arguing behind him.

--

Akane heard a knock on her door. "Come in."

"So Akane, how are doing" asked her sister.

"I'm fine. I just hope Kasumi is safe."

"I'm sure she is. Did Daddy stop by tonight?"

"No Why?"

_Great! I should have known he wouldn't be able to handle this._ "No reason. He mentioned that he might check in on you earlier. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I said, I'm fine" she sniffed.

"No you're not, and it's not just because you miss Kasumi. I know you miss him too..."

"...I do not!"

"Fine, you don't, but I know one thing, this is going to be harder on you than you think. If you need to talk...I'm here for you. I doubt Daddy is going to be much help. I'm not going to try to continue this now, but just remember, you can at least come talk to me." Nabiki turned and left Akane, who was still staring at the same spot on the wall.

* * *

_Authors Note_: I'd like to thank everyone again for the great reviews. I'm really honored by the great response so far! 


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Ranma grinned at Kasumi, "Oh come on Kasumi, you know there's nothing wrong with it, let's do it!"

"But Ranma, are you sure? What would people say? I'm not sure it's proper"

"Oh come on Kasumi, it will be fun, and nobody will ever know…."

"Yes, but I'm still worried that somebody would find out…it just seems wrong."

"Kasumi! It's a natural thing, besides, I _need_ this, I really do."

"All right Ranma, I think you're right, I just feel so bad doing this"

Ranma took her hand, opened the door…and proceeded into the abandoned ice cream shop. "Come on Kasumi, it'll just go bad anyways. Everyone's gone, we might as well enjoy ourselves until we figure out how to get back." The two of them started helping themselves. Ranma was decidedly hungrier than normal. The drain on his Ki had sent his appetite through the roof. Before long, Ranma had made them both some huge bowls of ice cream and they were both digging in.

Ranma smiled at the uncharacteristic fun that Kasumi was having. When they had woken up this morning, they had enjoyed a quiet breakfast and then Ranma had helped Kasumi clean up. Normally, Ranma would have been arguing with Akane by then, but with her no longer present to vent her ever present anger and indignation, he had some quiet time available. He knew Kasumi was kind of spooked by being alone, so he again volunteered to help her clean up breakfast. It was a strange feeling to be able to help somebody, to just be nice and polite, without somebody either misinterpreting his actions, or having his father calling him weak for doing non-martial arts activities. For as long as he could remember, he never had time to relax and really socialize with anybody. As he had learned recently, he was so fixated on the Art that everything else had taken a back seat. It felt surprisingly good to just be helping somebody without being made to feel guilty about it. That pleasant feeling, combined with Kasumi's radiant smile put Ranma in such a good mood, that he was more than happy to spend the morning looking for any other people that might still be in this world.

Kasumi was just as pleasantly surprised by this morning's activities, but for different reasons. Ever since her mother had died, she had shouldered the responsibilities of the household. She was surprised at how quickly her father let her assume the role, and how little her sisters helped out as they grew older. Well, she shouldn't really think that, after all Nabiki had helped finance the family for the last few years, but Kasumi had a feeling that Nabiki performed that function for as much for her own desires as for the needs for the family. Who would have thought that such a potentially dangerous turn of events could have allowed her to experience such a pleasing diversion from her daily duties.

True, the day had started in somewhat familiar territory. She was the first to wake as usual, and as she was finishing breakfast, Ranma had come downstairs. Instead of the usual morning spar with his father, Ranma kept her company in the kitchen, and had talked with her as they both ate breakfast. Afterward, he had helped her clean up, and seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood. Even though she had wanted to see if anybody else was here except them, she suggested that Ranma take some time in the dojo first. He had then surprised her by suggesting they go search for others, and they soon were walking through Nerima searching for any sign of life.

They had both walked for well over an hour when Kasumi finally talked about both of their unspoken feelings. "Ranma, I'm afraid we really are the only ones here. Do you think we could go back to the house for a bit? I know there's nobody there either, but the familiar surroundings make me a little more comfortable."

"Sure Kasumi, no problem"

On the walk back, Ranma's stomach started announcing it was time for its mid morning feeding "Hey Kasumi, how 'bout a little snack before lunch?"

"Certainly Ranma, or we could head back to the house and I'd be happy to make something for you."

"No, I have a better idea, follow me." He decided to convince her that the ice cream shop would be perfect.

------------------------------

As they finished their frozen treats, Ranma argued with himself whether to tell Kasumi about the Ki drain or not. Ranma finally decided that the issue could wait, but that he should at least bring up what they should do while they were waiting to see if Cologne came up with anything or not. Before he could bring up the matter, Kasumi broke the food-induced silence.

"Ranma, do you have any new ideas on what happened yesterday?"

"Nope, not a one. Well, I shouldn't say nothing" he paused. "There is one thing really odd that I've noticed, but I'm not sure what it means."

"What would that be?"

"Well, remember when we first got zapped by that blue scroll thingie" he began. "When everybody first faded away, I had this weird feeling that everything around us wanted to drain my Ki levels. When it first started, I tried to resist the drain, only it seemed that the stuff around us started to go gray, and my danger sense went off that to close off my Ki would have been a very bad idea. Since then it's been drawin' on me ever since. I'm not sure what it means, but I'm pretty sure it means that were not in the regular Nerima any more."

Kasumi furrowed her brow while thinking. "Could you show me what you did?"

"OK…but only for a moment." Ranma shut his eyes and concentrated on stopping the flow of Ki to the surrounding environment. When the transfer had stopped, he opened his eyes, only Kasumi wasn't looking at him anymore, she was staring at the shop around them.

Gone were the bright colors of the ice cream parlor. The smells of ice cream and chocolate were gone, and the shop seemed even quieter than before. As Ranma turned to look behind him, a spoon that was on the edge of the table fell to the floor. To their surprise, it did not make the loud clatter they expected, but instead produced a muffled clinking. Once again, Ranma's danger sense started screaming at him, and he immediately re-established the Ki flow. At once, the colors, sounds and smells of the shop returned, and his danger sense fell silent.

"Oh my" said Kasumi as she continued to look around the shop.

"Yeah. Not sure what it means exactly, but I've got a real strong feeling that if I stopped the Ki flow, it would stay like that. I'm not sure why it looks like that, but I know it sends my danger sense off the scale" he admitted.

"So it really does look like we were sent somewhere else then?"

"Sorry about that…but…yeah, I think we were. I'm sorry again I got you into this Kasumi"

For some strange reason, Kasumi immediately brightened. "Nonsense! I'm sure we'll get back, and until then, I'm having a wonderful time."

_A wonderful time? _He thought. _I know it's a nice change of pace to have things quiet for me, but why should Kasumi be enjoying it?_ "I don't understand Kasumi, why are you having a good time?"

Kasumi focused her gaze on Ranma. "Because this is so different! And it's an adventure! And…" she stopped.

"And what?"

She paused, deciding whether to be completely honest with him or not. "And I don't have to share it with anybody" she confessed.

"What do you mean, share it with anybody?" Ok, now he was seriously confused, first she wasn't freaked out by this place, and now she doesn't want to share it with anybody?

"Ranma, ever since my mother died, I've been taking care of my family. At first, everybody just kept to themselves. All father did was sit around and reminisce. Nabiki started up her moneymaking activities, and Akane decided she wanted to become the next great martial artist. Things were pretty dull for a long while, and all I had to look forward to was taking care of the house and the family. I never told anybody else, but Mother asked me to watch over the family before she died, and I promised her that I would. I loved her very much, and I never planned to break that promise." She paused, thinking about what she wanted to say next.

"Once you came along, everything changed. All the life in the house that had been absent returned. Yes, it was a bit crazy" she saw the look on Ranma's face and corrected herself "Alright, a lot crazy, but it was exciting. The only thing was…" she paused, looking uncomfortable about continuing.

"Go on" prompted Ranma.

"The only thing was, everybody had fun….but me" she finally said. "Oh I know, it wasn't all fun and games, but every time something bizarre happened to Akane, I secretly wished it might have happened to me. I know it sounds strange, but if you had been stuck in a house doing chores day after day for years, you'd look forward to new things just as much."

Ranma didn't say anything right at first. It was true; he had taken Kasumi for granted almost as much as everybody else had. Kasumi's servitude was such an accepted thing around the Tendo household that he had never thought about it himself. He always just assumed that she wanted to take care of things. It had never occurred to him that she might be doing it for…honor's sake. "Kasumi…I am so sorry. I should have known…"

"Nonsense" she countered. "You were a guest in the house. Did anybody ever tell you otherwise? Did I ever complain or drop a hint?"

"No, but…"

"No buts about it, it was my decision, and I accepted the consequences." She looked out the window of the shop. "Although it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate a change, even one as strange as this."

Ranma was speechless. Here he had been feeling sorry for himself lately, and Kasumi was understandably more depressed about her life than he was. He was about to utter more apologies when he realized that the best thing he could do for her was to help her enjoy their visit to this world, for however long it might last.

Kasumi sat looking at Ranma, waiting for him to digest what she had just told him. It brought a lightness to her spirit when he finally said "All right Kasumi. Let's make your stay here as fun as possible. Heck, we both may as well enjoy the time off from family and duty."

His statement was rewarded with one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen on a female. "Thank you Ranma, that would be very nice indeed."

--------------------------

Not far away, but still separated by a different yesterday, Hikaru had given up looking for the creatures of this world for the night. He had walked from one end of Nerima to the other, and found no sign of inhabitants of any type. As he walked the empty streets, it seemed to him that the night came a little quicker than he expected. He checked his watch and it said it was only about 3:30. _Hmmm, the watch must not be working quite right._

He reached into his pocket and pulled out some of the food he had stashed there earlier. Like before, it had lost its dullness and seemed normal enough. He downed the few morsels he had and found a nice abandoned house that would do as his home tonight. He calmly strode through the front door and within a few minutes had located a suitable bedroom. The stress of the day hit him and he went promptly to sleep.

* * *

_Authors Note_: I'd like to thank many of you for some really good suggestions. I've tried to work in the ones that I thought would help and that stayed consistent with where I'm taking the story. It's true, I've painted Akane and Nabiki as a bit more harsh than they might be, but I still think that the cumulative effect of their negative behavior would be enough to turn anyone off, and that shouldn't be ignored. 

Again, thanks for the positive reviews. I really appreciate them! I'm amazed at how much it motivates me!

And thanks to Rogue7 for catching my little continuity error in this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

_ I'd like to thank everyone for the fantastic reviews as well. You've all been very kind. Since this is my first fic I'm definitely a bit...timid about the whole process. This community is great, and you are all very supportive. Thanks again!  
_

**Chapter 9**

Ranma was tired. That in itself would have surprised him over a week ago, but ever since he'd been wherever they had been sent, he'd had this constant drain on his Ki to deal with. He could keep up with the demand – barely. He'd quickly found that as long as he was supporting the Ki flow to the world around him, he had no energy left for any of his Ki attacks. In many ways, he felt like he was returning back to his first few days of training. Basic katas tired him. He knew he had a lot of work to get back into shape, but without his father egging him on, or for that matter any of his rivals or friends, it was difficult to imagine putting in the time to regain his former energy reserves.

He completed his morning workout and went out into the yard to cool off by the koi pond. Kasumi and he had finished breakfast earlier, and she had insisted that she could do the wash by herself while he worked out Without school, arguments, fights, idiotic fathers, manic mothers, random challengers or other magical interference, Ranma had come to realize that he had a lot more time on his hands than he did before the incident. To his credit, he decided that one of the best things he could do for Kasumi was to keep her company during the day. The excessive quiet was creepy, and she didn't seem to be fazed by the stillness as long as Ranma was at least in the same house as she was.

This morning he had again helped her with breakfast. He was somewhat baffled at what a surreal experience breakfast was turning out to be. For the first time since he could remember he didn't have to fight for his food. The last few mornings, Kasumi had reminded him of just that fact as he was inhaling his food at his normal pace during the meal. Embarrassed, he concentrated on his rather unique situation and each morning forced himself to eat at a greatly reduced rate, which had produced a brilliant smile on Kasumi's face. Instead of the usual morning interrogation by Akane, Nabiki and his father, he was able to make small talk with Kasumi, taking the time to compliment her on her cooking and thanking her for taking such good care of him.

This was the third day of their exile, as he now thought of it. As he was drying the dishes after breakfast, he thought _You know, this 'helping out' stuff isn't too bad. The work isn't too hard, and it sure is neat how much Kasumi appreciates my help. She really seems glad that I'm helping._ _Pops always said that helping out only made people think less of you, that you were weak. Something tells me that once again he was full of it. _He thought that it was because she appreciated his help and companionship, without taking offense or deciding he had ulterior motives.

After breakfast, Kasumi insisted that he have some time to work out while she did the laundry. "Ranma, I know how much you enjoy your practicing. I'll be fine while you work out. If I get uncomfortable, I'll give you a call"

That was an hour ago, and he was surprised out how tired he was doing simple exercises. As he finished up, Kasumi entered the dojo. "Are you already finished Ranma?"

Ranma smiled at her as she walked into the room. "Yeah, hate to admit it, but this place sure takes a lot of energy out of me."

Kasumi smiled back a silent greeting then said "What do you suppose we should do today?"

Ranma was dreading this question. For all his bravado, his only plan so far was to wait around for a while and hope the old ghoul could come up with something. Kami knows that he didn't have the best luck with magic. The problem is, he didn't want to admit he had no idea. There wasn't any enemy to fight this time. It wasn't obvious how Martial Arts was going to help them here. This wasn't the type of fight he'd fought before, and he was left with no plan of attack.

It was then that a rather unique event occurred. Normally, Ranma would have been pushed into a false sense of confidence by either Akane, his father, or somebody else who always expecting so much out of him. But since he had no current foe, none of his usual instincts kicked in and consequently he had no answer. As he returned Kasumi's gaze, he occurred to him that she was actually asking his opinion, not demanding an answer out of him. The Ranma thought process version 1.0 was about to make its first upgrade. Nothing huge, but even a 1.1 version is better than 1.0. And all it took was a seemingly small change in his usual response to a simple question.

"I'm not really sure Kasumi, what do you think we should do?"

Kasumi blinked-blinked at the simple question. In all honesty, it had been so long since somebody actually asked her opinion about something that...that she couldn't remember when the last time was. Kasumi was typically surrounded by strong-willed, ego-centric people that were used to her 'taking care of things'. Nobody, but nobody, had ever really asked her what she would do when something new came up. They expected her to quietly fall in place behind whomever decided to play leader and give quiet support. Was he really wondering what she thought they should do. She looked at his face and saw the earnestness there. Yes, he was actually wondering what she would do. She fought her well worn reflex to defer to his judgment and decided to instead, try to at least help come up with a solution. To repay the politeness that Ranma showed, she decided to not jump at a quick answer, but work with him based on the questions she already had thought of earlier this morning.

"Well, I think you idea of remaining around the house for a while is a good one. Hopefully Cologne will be able to think of something. But I was thinking as I was cleaning up this morning, without any people around, how long will we have electricity and water?"

"I'm not sure what you mean? It's working now. Why would it quit?"

"I'm not sure when it will. But without people watching, more and more things will probably quit working as they run out of gas, or something goes wrong. There are many people which take care of things in this town each day, and without them, I think things will start to break down." she finished.

"Oh. I hadn't really thought of that..." He performed the famous Saotome scratch the back of the head move. His face quickly brightened. "Don't worry though, I know how to start a fire and camp, we should be OK."

"I'm not worried about that part of it. I just thought we might try to find a few things now, so that when these things do fail, we'll be ready for it."

"Like what?'

She looked down, and quietly replied "I was thinking of getting some fuel, water and maybe a generator." Oh sure, everyone liked to listen to her calm and soothing words around the house, but when it came time to actually act on something she suggested her track record was far from perfect. Most people just liked to stop and get comfort, but never really listen to her advice. She excepted nothing different now.

"OK"

"OK?" she looked up again.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea, we could go right now if you wanted to." Ranma was rewarded with a patented Kasumi beam that shamed any he had every witnessed before. "What? What did I do?" he had a panicked look to his face, and his tone showed revealed his rising panic that he had embarrassed himself again somehow.

"Nothing Ranma, you just listened to me. You may not realize it, but not many people do...not really. And it just feels nice. Thank you."

"Oh, sure..." he scratched the back of his head.

"Come on Ranma, let's go shopping..."

Mousse was overjoyed. It had been three days since Saotome had disappeared. During that time the old mummy had feverishly searched through her scrolls, tomes and manuscripts, but had so far found nothing that might help return his banished rival. Everybody else seemed to be upset that Ranma had been whisked off to who-knows-where, but as far as Mousse was concerned, it couldn't have gone any better if he himself had planned it. Ranma seemed to be gone for good, there was nothing anybody could do about it, and Mousse couldn't be blamed for it. Things couldn't be going any better!

Unfortunately, just then Cologne stuck her head in the kitchen door. "Mr. Part-time, stop cleaning the floor and come in with us. We have something to discuss."

_Ahhh, this must be it _he thought to himself. _Now that Saotome is gone, Cologne has decided that I would be the best candidate for my darling Shampoo. _He quickly put the broom in the corner and followed her into the main room.

Shampoo was already sitting at one of the tables when Cologne and Mousse joined her. As soon as she sat down, Shampoo immediately asked "What great-grandmother want to talk to us about?"

Cologne was not one to avoid the main topic. "Children, I have decided that there is no longer any reason to remain in Japan any longer. In one weeks time, I want us to be packed up and ready to return to our village."

Shampoo was immediately upset. "But great-grandmother, what about Airen? Aren't we going to help him get back? Why would we leave him?"

Mousse watched Cologne's face as she answered Shampoo. He was surprised at how worn-out she looked. She paused before answering, then looked at both of them. "Because there is nothing we can do for son-in-law. When the incident happened, I feared there would be no way to recover him. I have been double-checking my records for the last few days, and nobody has ever returned from the banishment to Yesterday. The spell was written as a one-way ticket. As near as I can tell, it uses the ambient Ki of a large surrounding region to open the portal to the Yesterday world. Once banished to the prison, there will never be enough Ki to re-open the portal."

"But great-grandmother, isn't Airen very good with Ki?"

"Yes he is child, but we are talking about more Ki than Ranma could ever hope of mastering. Son-in-law may be good, but I think everyone has his limits. Plus, he doesn't even know what really happened to he and the Tendo girl. It is unlikely that he would even know where to begin to look."

Mousse immediately saw a flaw in previous statement. "But didn't you give him the key to the restricted vault in the village?"

"Yes, I did, but the odds of him surviving long enough to get there, figure out where to look, and then understand what happened to him are...astronomical. Even for son-in-law."

"Great-grandmother, you keep saying 'if he survives'. How dangerous is this world."

"Shampoo, that is a good question in many ways. I've already mentioned the beings that inhabit this 'Yesterday' world. It is said by the few Elders who have had visions of this place that these creatures consume everything in the world within a few days. That is one reason why I have waited this long, is to give Ranma some time to escape before it was too late. But even if these beings weren't there, think about how hard it might be to have nobody else left around you...no doctors, no farmers, no tradesman. Son-in-law may be good, but he hasn't struck me as a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to other tasks. He may be able to camp out for a while, but sooner or later, the reality of him having to really take care of himself will take its toll. Something as simple as a bad case of the flu could kill a person in that situation."

Mousse succeeded in keeping his grin to himself. _As I said, this couldn't be going any better if I'd planned it myself._

Hikaru was beginning to get worried. He thought that this was the third day in this world, but it was hard to tell since the days seemed to be moving...faster. The first day he thought his watch was off, but he soon realized that the cycle of day and night seemed to be going by quicker and quicker. He had managed to continue to feed himself by letting things "warm up" in his pocket before eating or drinking the item. He had tried to eat things before they had "warmed up", but had to spit them out immediately, just as he had done the first day he arrived.

He couldn't have known that his "warming up process" was in fact letting his own weak Ki field infuse a little life on his pocketed snacks. His excess Ki was so week, that the best he could do was normalize the few morsels he kept each morning.

So far, he hadn't found any sign of anybody in this dull, lifeless world. The abnormal silence was still present, but a few moments ago, he thought he heard a strange low rumble off to the east. Since he was in front of Furinkan High School, he decided to go up to one of the upper floors to see if he could see what was causing the noise. As he got to the roof, he looked out over the houses in front of him and didn't see anything at first. He could still hear the occasional low rumble, but couldn't see anything moving.

He was about to turn around to go downstairs when he saw motion in the distance. At the top of the farthest hill, it looked like the trees were moving.

_What the hell is that? _He thought. _Looks like the trees are...falling._

As he stood and stared, he was convinced that some of the trees were falling down. He couldn't see what was causing them to topple, but they were definitely dropping.

_Crazy lumberjacks? _He grinned. The grin quickly disappeared when he saw a power line near the trees also fall over. _Lumberjacks wouldn't be cutting down power lines..._

He watched with growing concern as more trees, and eventually another power line dropped. He became aware of a growing, but muffled noise of breakage and destruction. His concern quickly shifted to outright fear as he saw a taller house disappear as well. Whatever was cutting down the trees didn't seem to be too discriminating. Unfortunately whatever was doing the removal seemed to be moving his way, and it seemed to be coming at a pretty good rate.

He decided to go to the large field behind the school. That way anything falling hopefully wouldn't fall on him. He raced down the stairs and went around to the back of the school. As he was rounding the North wing, he could hear the noise getting louder and louder. Whatever was coming, was coming quickly.

After running to the center of the sports field, he turned to face the oncoming...whatever. Standing in the former silence, hearing tearing, wrenching sounds coming from beyond the school was terrifying. He wasn't sure what could make such noises, but he was pretty sure he wasn't looking forward to finding out.

The first local sign that the destroyers had come to the school was the trees falling down in front of the school. Hikaru could see the trees drop beneath the roof line as whatever was destroying them arrived. Now that they were so close, he could hear some crashing coming within the school. _What could be getting into the school so quickly? _His question was quickly answered when he caught sight of something large, round and black tearing around the building to his right. Almost immediately, two more appeared to the left of the building, and then one actually crashed through the wall of the science wing.

He wasn't sure what he expected, but it surely wasn't the nightmarish creatures currently zigging and zagging around the school grounds. Some were black and some were red. As they tore along, leaving trails of black behind them, he could almost make out some depressions where eyes might be, and a large mouth with huge buzzing teeth. _Looks like they're...eating the ground..._ Each creature was moving through the field and left behind a trail of...nothingness. He watched with growing horror as more and more of the creatures came into view. Each one consuming more of the surrounding area. Sometimes, the creatures crossed paths and the resulting piece of ground seemed to fall away into the growing emptiness. As Hikaru Gosunkugi turned to run, one of the creatures noticed him and shot toward the fleeing boy. _No! This can't be happening, this was supposed to happen to Ranma not him!_ He ran, but the large black consumer of 'Yesterday' was far faster. He felt something clip his left side. There was no pain, only a cold numbing sensation at his shoulder and his balance was immediately thrown off. He looked down and could hardly process the fact that his left arm was now missing at the shoulder. There was no blood, only a neatly sealed black wound. He stopped, still looking at where his arm used to be, of course standing still in a field full of these creatures wasn't the best move, and when he finally looked back up he could see three of them heading directly toward him. The last thing Gosunkugi thought of before he joined the rest of this quickly diminishing world was quite familiar to another of Ranma's acquaintances, it was _curse you Saotome, this is all your fau..._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Ranma was sitting in the yard watching the pond as Kasumi finished up some dusting inside the house. They had been waiting at the Dojo for a week now. During this time, they had both fell into a somewhat general routine that started with waking up around seven. This proved to be an unexpected benefit for both of them.

Ranma couldn't remember when he had slept with such peace (and length!). Ever since he could remember, his father had forced him out of bed early to train (or flee angry villagers). It was funny how something as simple as waking up gently in the morning, rather than having a bucket of cold water thrown at you..._thank you so very much Akane_...could start you off in a better mood.

Of course waking up and seeing the happy and beautiful face of Kasumi each morning would have put the crankiest man on earth into a good mood. Kasumi had managed to convince Ranma to leave his futon in the corner of her room. He had tried to protest, but she had convinced him otherwise.

"Kasumi, are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Why yes, why not?" she couldn't understand why he was so reluctant to keep her company at night.

"But...but...in your room each night?"

"And that would be bad because?" she knew where this was going, but she wasn't going to let his fear get the best of both of them.

"What would people say? It wouldn't be right?"

"Well" she started, "first of all there isn't anybody to say anything, and most important, you are protecting me and keeping me company. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No..."

Kasumi was grinning rather mischievously. "As far as being 'not right', are you planning to do anything ungentlemanly to me while we are in here?" She knew Ranma would rather eat Akane's cooking than even think of something like that.

"Of course not!"

"Then there is nothing wrong with it, is there?" she concluded.

"No, I guess not" he was quiet for a few moments and then looked up at her again. "Kasumi, why do you trust me so much? Nobody else that I've known has ever trusted me as much as you have?"

Kasumi blink-blinked at the question. It was actually a very good one. She only had to think about it for a little bit before she had a good answer, one that should please him greatly. "Simple, because you are an honorable man."

Ranma had expected many answers, but not that one. Nobody had ever seemed to appreciate his sense of honor before. _Heck, Akane never gave me an ounce of credit, not once. She always believed the worse about me._ He felt his face blush slightly with embarrassment. "You really think I'm honorable?"

"Ranma, we all have our own faults. I have them, you have them. But one of your strong points is definitely how honorable you are. I've never seen you take advantage of another persons goodness, so I don't expect you to do so of mine. I trust you."

"Trust me?" Ranma Saotome had never heard a female, or a male for that matter, ever use those words before. They filled him with a sense of pride he'd never experienced before. "Wow, thanks Kasumi. That means a lot to me. I promise I won't let you down."

She returned his smile. "I know you won't Ranma, that's why I do trust you."

So Ranma permanently moved his futon out of the guest room and into Kasumi's. This of course meant that instead of waking to his father yelling at him, as he had done so many times before, he got to wake to Kasumi's soft, musical "Good morning Ranma" instead.

Neither one of them talked about it, but their primary purpose each day was basically trying to patiently wait for someone to figure out how to get them back home. So each morning they woke together, with Ranma escorting Kasumi to the bathroom to change, and then her waiting for him to get cleaned up as well. Next came breakfast, followed by Ranma's morning workout while Kasumi did what little cleaning was required now that there was only two of them. The last few days they had kept busy during the daytime accumulating food and supplies. Turns out it was a good thing that he had listened to her, because since that day, power had been going out throughout the district, and they had lost theirs yesterday. Some camping stoves and fuel had at least given them access to some water, but gone were the days of long soaks in the furo. Evenings had been spent on making dinners and then just talking to each other.

The combined effects of not having lunatic fiancées, rivals or parents was beginning to show on Ranma. He was just starting to notice how much he was relaxing each day from the lack of stress. The immediate effect was that he actually started thinking about his actions more rather than just reacting. In his conversations with Kasumi this week, he had caught himself several times about to make some ridiculous (and usually insensitive) comment and thought against it. He was glad that Kasumi hadn't seemed to notice, and was proud that the Saotome foot-in-mouth disease had at least a hope of being manageable.

As much as the quiet atmosphere was helping him relax, the ability to actually talk with someone was having an even greater effect on him. Since there was no television or radio, each night he and Kasumi had sat out in the yard and talked. On the first night it had seemed a little awkward, but he remembered how much he used to enjoy talking around a campfire to his father and decided that even though it wasn't that cold, he made a small fire each night for them to sit around.

The effect had been somewhat magic. The life of the fire, the random pops and hisses, had made them both less lonely, and it seemed like they were on a camping trip instead of sitting in an empty house in an empty town. Each night they sat in the yard, alternating between looking at the night sky and the glowing embers. As the power had failed in the district, the stars had decided to show themselves more. Last night had been breathtaking. For the first time since some of his more out-of-the-way trips, he had seen the Milky Way up in the night sky. Kasumi had never really been out of the city before and had been amazed out how beautiful the evening view was. He remembered their conversation last night.

"So that's really the Milky Way up there?" she asked.

The two of them were laying on some cots they had found in a camping store that very day. Ranma knew the stars would really be out tonight and he thought it would be better than laying on the hard ground.

"Yup, that's it. Not many people really get to see the sky like this anymore. With all the lights going out, you can finally see the real night sky."

"It's beautiful. There is so much detail and depth. It almost seems alive..." she finished, her soft voice blending with the quiet evening around them.

He was surprised that she had made the same observation that he had many years ago. "It does seem alive, doesn't it. When Pops and I were on a trip, I could stare at this all night. Well, I could if I wasn't so darned tired. He usually wore me out each day, so I never really stayed up too late. I still never got tired of looking at it."

"Ranma" Kasumi began, although she paused and he could tell that she was unsure about something. "I never went camping before, do you think...we could sleep out here tonight. There aren't any more animals or bugs to bother us are there?"

She couldn't see it, but her request brought a big smile to Ranma's face. "Sure thing Kasumi, that'd be great!" True, part of him felt guilty in succumbing to such a childish pleasure, but it was one of the things he always used to enjoy with his father, and for as nice as the Tendo's had been, he always missed the outdoors. "I'll go get some stuff, I'll be right back."

"Oh, let me help you. You don't need to do everything yourself you know."

Fifteen minutes later, they were tucked beneath some light blankets and were listening to the fire make gentle noises off to the side.

"Ranma, could you talk to me for a bit before we go to sleep?" _Thank goodness he can't see my face_ she thought. _He'll probably just say no, but if I don't ask him I'll never know. _"I know it sounds silly, but if I listen to your voice, I don't have other thoughts about...scarier things."

"Uh, OK, but what would you like me to talk about."

"Tell me about your childhood"

So Ranma started telling Kasumi about what it was like to be Ranma Saotome.

--

Akane Tendo was not a happy camper. Ranma had been gone a week now, and she had been forced to realize that she didn't dislike him quite as much as she had liked to think. If anybody had asked her, she would have sworn that she had no feelings at all about her fiancée, but his disappearance had also made her have to admit that she really did care for baka. Yes, his foot and mouth disease often drove her to new heights of anger, but she knew that in some way, Ranma really did care for her. The problem was, no matter how much she cared for him, she was just as frustrated by his actions and manners. She wasn't sure how she would ever resolve this conflict, but hopefully she'd sort it out eventually. Her sister had helped a bit, unfortunately she didn't have the way with people that Kasumi had.

She was torn because even though she missed the baka, she also was enjoying the return to normalcy that was occurring in Nerima. Yesterday those bizarre Amazons had actually left town. She was glad Shampoo was finally gone, but she also realized that the only reason that they had left, was that even they had given up on Ranma returning.

So as she sat eating her lunch at school, she thought that she liked the Attention the baka gave her, but the chaos that accompanied that attention bothered her just as much. She just wished he and Kasumi would come back. She couldn't win for losing, Ranma bugged her, but she still missed him, and if anyone could save her sister, it would be Ranma.

--

Ranma was looking for Kasumi. He had decided to try cutting back on the Ki flow to his surroundings to see what would happen. She was working in the yard when he shut off the flow and he wanted to be with her if anything strange happened. He walked out to the front yard to find her, but she wasn't there. He didn't like this gray, lifeless version of the world and it gave him the creeps.

As he walked around the house looking for her, he heard a noise in the distance. He stopped to see if he could see what was producing the muted crashing noise. At first he couldn't see anything, but eventually he noticed movement on the next hill over. He shaded his eyes with his hand as he watched the trees move, and finally fall as something appeared to be knocking them over. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew he needed to find Kasumi right away.

"Kasumi! Kasumi, where are you?" _Where could she have gone, she was here just a moment ago?_ He broke into a run as he went to the dojo next door. "Kasumi!"

His feeling of panic continued to build as he was unable to find her. He went back into the yard and noticed the noise was noticeably louder. As he looked toward the hill, he saw more and more trees fall. Whatever was doing the damage was coming his way...quickly.

"Kasumi!" He couldn't find her! He jumped on top of the roof of the house so that he might be able see where she was. He looked around the property and saw no sign of her. As he heard more trees fall, he glanced back toward the noise and finally saw what was causing the turmoil. There were some kind of large balls careening through the woods. As they traveled, they left behind a black trail. He watched as they cut through trees and rocks alike. As they got closer, he could make out some type of eyes below the surface and a set of huge teeth where the mouth must be.

"Kasumi!" he called as he jumped into the backyard away from the advancing creatures. As he began to run, he saw them encircle him from all sides. They were incredibly fast and moving erratically.

One of the creatures seem to set its sights on him and it careened toward him. He tried to run, but all he could see was the huge mouth looming closer, closer...

"Kasumi!" he screamed as he shot out of his bed. His yell woke Kasumi sleeping next to him. She looked around wondering what was wrong, and saw Ranma standing next to his cot, shaking looking white as a ghost.

"Ranma, what's the matter?"

"A dream, it was just a dream, that's all" he panted.

"What was a dream?" she asked.

There was no way he was going to tell her about that nightmare. Hopefully it was just that, a nightmare. "Yeah, just a dream. Couldn't find you and just got worried."

She smiled at his innocence. He didn't even realize the compliment he gave her without thinking. She suspected there might be more, but she didn't force the issue. "Why thank you Ranma. I'm glad you're worried about me. Do you feel any better now?"

"Yeah, I do. It's nice to know it was just a bad dream. Don't know if I can get to sleep again though."

"...Because of the dream?" she completed for him.

"Yeah. Need to concentrate on something else."

"Well, you've helped me get to sleep by telling me about your childhood, how about I tell you about mine?"

"Really, that'd be great Kasumi!" he lay back down on his cot, and listened to the soft musical voice of Kasumi. _Her voice is so beautiful. Even if I couldn't see her, I'd know she was wonderful. _ It wasn't long before Ranma dropped off, and Kasumi joined him soon after.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Cologne was meeting with the elders of the Amazon village. She had just given them the news that Ranma was no longer available.

"So Shampoo's lost her husband? Not very impressive of one of our _finest_ warriors"

"Unfortunately, that is correct. Some fool in Nerima had acquired a _Scroll of Yesterday_."

Lotion couldn't believe it. "What? How in the world did one of those get out? We have all of the copies in our vault."

Cologne sighed. "Well, it seems like we _thought _we had every copy." She reached into her bag and drew out the scroll. "Here's another for the vault. I recovered it from the boy before I executed his punishment"

"You used the scroll on him as well?" Perfume asked.

"Yes, I enforced the traditional punishment for the unauthorized use of the scroll."

"It is an unfortunate set of circumstances that such a chain of events could occur. It is particularly distressing that we have lost such a promising young man. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do for the boy...and the girl as well. Shampoo is released from her responsibilities toward the young man, and must now look for a new husband." Lotion looked at Cologne. "Is there something else you wish to report".

Cologne paused, she knew that the next bit of news would not go over well with the council. She was counting that the council had written off the boy so that her actions would be moot.

"Yes, there is something else. I told you that the boy and one of the girls of the family he was staying with were victims of the scroll. I arrived at their house just as the incantation had been completed and the scroll had been thrown. I knew the finality of what was about to happen and I decided to take a chance on something. Since it has already been a week since the event, I believe the effort was for nothing."

Perfume knew Cologne was avoiding something serious. Cologne never talked in hints and riddles, so whatever she did, it was big. "What did you do?"

"Understand, I saw the boy start to phase away. I know there is no way to return from the banishment, but I decided that the only chance they had was to have...access...to the...archives"

_Oh, she didn't do that, she couldn't have... _"Cologne, I ask you again, what did you do"

Cologne stopped trying to avoid the subject. "I gave the boy my key."

"YOU DID WHAT!" Perfume screamed.

"I gave him my key. I decided all I was probably doing was destroying my key. Even I'm not sure how he could have used it in time, but I have seen the boy come through in many difficult situations. I felt...I felt he deserved the chance."

The council was quiet for a short while. Eventually, Perfume spoke up. "You know what the penalty is for giving anybody but an Elder access to the archives." Cologne closed her eyes, she knew this was a possible outcome.

Lotion jumped in. "But considering that all she really was doing was just destroying the key, I believe that we should be...understanding of the circumstances."

Cologne looked to Lotion with obvious gratitude. "Thank you, I appreciate your understanding."

"What a mess" said Perfume. "I suppose we should glad that at least we didn't lose you or Shampoo as well. Very well, we will have a replacement made for you. You and Shampoo are free to go. Inform Shampoo that she should begin looking for a new husband, as her obligation to this Ranma is hereby released."

"I understand, thank you." She turned and walked out of the meeting room. _Well, that actually went better than I expected..._

---

It was the morning after their first 'camp out' and Ranma and Kasumi had already finished breakfast. Ranma had changed into his white gi and was walking toward the dojo when he saw Kasumi walking toward him. She didn't have her usual care-free look, and appeared to be slightly nervous or self-conscious about something. "Hey Kasumi, what's up?"

"I have a favor to ask of you Ranma."

"No problem!" Kasumi's favors were usually quite easy for him to fulfill, he didn't think for a moment that this one would be anything different. Of course, Ranma Saotome had been known to be wrong before...

"I'd like to train with you" There she said it. She'd been working up her nerve to ask him for the last couple of days.

"Wha..Wha..What?"

"I'd like to train with you." She held up her hand to hold off his next well versed counter. "Before you say anything else, hear me out. We've been here over a week, and there has been no sign of anybody. I'm not sure what our next steps should be, but I believe that at best it may be a long time before we get back. I don't know about you, but I don't look forward to doing anything but cooking and cleaning for an almost empty house for much longer. Plus, for the first time in my life, I have enough time to _choose_ what I want to do with my life. I don't know about you, but I'd almost given up hope to ever have that choice given to me. Granted, our situation places certain...restrictions...on what I can do, but I've thought about it and I'd like to train with you."

Ranma was dumbstruck, Kasumi...train..._I'd have to hit Kasumi?_... "But why?" was all the response he could muster.

Kasumi cocked her head slightly, and her smile grew wider. "Because I think it would be fun."

"Fun?"

"I've been thinking about my life for the past few days. No, that's not really true" she corrected herself. "Actually, I've been thinking about my life for a long time. I've already told you that even though I tried to stay cheerful for the family, I really wasn't happy about my every day life. Until now, I never saw a way to make a change. But now" she paused, looking around. "Now I have a chance to make some choices. I don't expect you to make me a great martial artist, but I'd like to be able to do things with you. I think it would be fun to learn things from you and to work out with you. I'd like..." again she paused, but this time she looked him straight in the eye. "I'd like to be your friend, if I could".

"Friend?" he whispered, still not accepting this unexpected turn of events.

"Yes, friend. Unless you'd like to just work out by yourself. I'd understand of course..."

"No No No No No" he blurted. As he considered her request, he realized how empty his workouts had been without anybody else, heck even the tomboy, around. The enormity of the request hit him, and his mind raced. _How am I gonna teach her? How am I gonna hit her? But...wow...to have a friend to work out with..._

She saw the emotions flicker across his face as he thought about his response. Kasumi couldn't believe it, she'd finally managed to make herself say the things she said to him. She doubted he'd really thought about their situation that much, his optimism wouldn't let him really consider the consequences, but she had. The last few nights she had lain awake long after Ranma had dropped off. She had to admit to herself that they might never get back, and if they didn't, then they would have to adapt being here alone.

If Ranma didn't want the company, she could live with that, after all, in many ways she'd been alone in the house since her mother died, and this wouldn't be much different, just a lot quieter. Ah, but if Ranma did want a friend, someone to really do something with, then maybe she could start...living...again. Ranma didn't realize it, but Kasumi was just as alone as he was. All of her friends had gone off to school, or some had even got married already. Her duties at home kept her isolated from developing any real relationships.

And so, she had steeled herself to ask Ranma if she could work with him in his art. A cold feeling of dread descended upon her as she kept waiting for his response. The small pessimist in her starting to tell her _of course he won't want to be with you, why would he?_

"Kasumi, I'm not sure how good of a teacher I'd be, heck my old man wasn't the best role model, but I'd be honored to teach you, and yeah, you're right, it would be fun to have somebody to work out with. In some ways it will be perfect, because with me supporting this Ki drain that this place is puttin' on me, I'm just starting out again myself."

The smile that he saw on her face dwarfed any smile he had ever seen on the oldest Tendo sister. He was fascinated in the effect it had on him as well, as any doubts he had were quickly blown away.

"Thank you Ranma, thank you! I promise to be the best student you'll ever have. I'll go get dressed. I'll be right back." she turned at raced back up to her room, to get the gi she'd placed there yesterday.

_I hope she knows what she's doing. _He thought as he watched her leave

--

Ranma was torn. On the one hand, it was really nice to have someone working out with him in the dojo. On the other hand, he felt like the worst man in the world _which was technically true at the moment _he chuckled to himself. _I guess I got carried away a bit today. It was just so much fun._ Kasumi was sprawled on the couch, exhausted after her initial workout today. Kasumi had been so committed to being a good student that he almost missed the signs of exhaustion she showed during the initial stretching and beginning katas he had shown her today. Once he realized how far he had pushed her, he insisted she take a break and that he'd take care of dinner.

"Kasumi, you know I don't mind cooking, heck, I'm even getting to like doing it these past few days. I insist. Besides, since we don't have a working furo, you can't get a hot soak. The least I can do is to prepare dinner for you."

"Alright, if you insist. I feel so bad, when I was small I used to practice with Daddy, but I didn't realize I had gotten so out of shape."

"Like heck!" Ranma replied. "I just pushed you too hard. I kind of got carried away today. It really was a lotta fun. I just wished we had a hot spring or somethin' close by so you could have a soak."

"I'll be fine, really, it actually felt good to really stretch today."

She lay on the couch, listening to him chopping the vegetables they got from the market yesterday. She really wasn't telling him all the truth. It not only felt good to stretch today, it felt good to be doing something different for a change. No matter how sore she felt, she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world right now. _Something new, something...alive! It was wonderful to be off of the sidelines._

"Kasumi?"

"Yes Ranma?"

"I was thinkin'. Like you said earlier, it's been a week now and no sign of anybody. I was wondering, maybe we should try to go to the Amazon village and see if we can find a way back there?"

Kasumi lay still, trying to put into words the concerns she had about just such a suggestion. "Ranma, I think going to the village is a good idea, but I'm not sure going right a way is such a good idea."

Ranma furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not?"

She turned and looked at him. "Well, if we get there, nobody will be around in the village, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So won't we have to figure out everything for ourselves?"

"Yeah, I suppose so..."

Kasumi sighed with frustration. "Ranma, I don't know how to read Chinese, do you?"

"Nope...I sure didn't learn it from Pops. If he could read Chinese, we probably wouldn't have ended up in Jusenkyo!"

"But won't we have to know how to read it when we search for answers there?" She saw his face fall. He tried to keep a look of hope, but he wasn't a very good actor.

"Oh crap! You're right! I never thought of that!"

She smiled at him. "It's okay, it's just that we'll have to do a little learning first before we go to China. I'm sure between the two of us we can learn enough Chinese to figure things out once we get there."

Ranma managed a full blown face-fault. "You mean we're going to have to go to school? But there aren't any teachers!"

"Well, not school exactly, but we'll have to teach ourselves."

"Oh man, that could take a long time..." Part of the reason he wanted to get going to China was to get out of this dead house. "Okay, you're probably right, but I still have a suggestion."

"Certainly Ranma, what is it?"

"I think we should leave this place, this house."

Now it was Kasumi's turn to be confused. Leave her home? "But why?"

Ranma wanted to to this right. He knew Kasumi loved her home, but he also knew they could find a better spot, particularly if they were going to be here for a while. "Well, I've been thinking. First, I don't know about you, but not having running water or electricity is making it tough to be here."

Kasumi nodded in agreement.

"Second, it kinda makes me feel more alone walking around this house. I'm so used to your sisters and your and my father being about that sometimes, it gets a bit too quiet for me. I was thinking, we could find a place in the mountains not far from here. On one of my training trips, Pops and I saw some cabins near some hot springs. Since you seem to like camping, I thought that if we could find a place with running water, plus a source of hot water, it might make it a lot nicer. That way if we need to stay in Japan for a while, at least we'd be more comfortable."

Kasumi looked down at the ground in thought. She really hadn't thought about moving. When she realized they'd probably have to stay in Japan for a while, she just assumed she'd stay in the house she'd grown up in. She was impressed with Ranma's idea though. Roughing it in the Tendo home was becoming more and more difficult, and Ranma was right, it did make it seem slightly lonelier. She thought about the last few nights outside in the stars, and decided that maybe a change was indeed in order. She'd already made the first step in breaking out of her rut by getting Ranma to begin to teach her Martial Arts, why not up it another notch?

"Ranma, I think that is an excellent idea. If we found a place with hot and cold water, and not around all of these empty houses, I think it would make staying here much nicer. Could you show me some of the places you were thinking about?"

The cocky grin returned to Ranma's face. "You bet! We'll start tomorrow"

--

Neither of the two knew that their world and its continued existence were heavily frustrating the red and black spherical creatures who normally would have removed their world from existence long ago. The creatures knew that one of the two humans was somehow preserving the world around them so that they were unable to 'reclaim' it as they had so many times before and since. This particular world was like a grain of sand in an oyster. It irritated the creatures, who buzzed and fidgeted just outside of this world's reality. More and more waited at the edge of its existence, waiting for any lapse in the state of this world. They were eager to set things right and remove this world from its existence, and the moment the life force stopped preserving this environment, they would remove that irritation as fast as they could.

--

_Authors Note: I'd like to thank everyone again for the kind words and good ideas. Since I'm usually writing about 4-5 chapters ahead of what I post, not everything that is a good idea can be squeezed into the story, but I thank you all very much._


	12. Chapter 12

_Authors Note: Several people have asked excellent questions about the extent of Ranma's ability to preserve the Langolier world with his Ki. I assume that by keeping a small trickle charge to the world, he is preventing it sliding into the dormant state that allow the Langoliers to attack. As far the extent the world that Ranma and Kasumi are in, and what the Langoliers would consume (e.g would they eat the air, Sun, moon, stars, etc..), I'm going to cop out and say that if "Sai" King didn't make an issue of it, neither will I! To be honest, I hadn't really thought of it when I started the story, but the more I think of it, it doesn't make too much sense. I guess that's what I get for using somebody else's idea..._

_Also, I'd like to apologize for the occasional typos and such. I have no proof reader, and no matter how many times I look through a chapter, it seems like a couple always get through..._

_-- _

Chapter 12

"Well, what about this one?" He looked around at the house they were exploring. The process of looking for a new place to stay was taking them quite a bit longer than he thought it would take, but it seemed that Kasumi was somewhat choosy about where she wanted to stay. They had been looking for two weeks, when they had come across this place. It wasn't huge or fancy, but it had a warm inviting atmosphere that Ranma took to immediately. Like many of the places in this area, it was built close to the central hot springs and it had the extra feature of a small cool stream running through the backyard. Before he commented on it, he had waited to see how Kasumi reacted to it. After the last three places, he had learned that she was looking for more than just a place to stay for a bit, she was looking for something she could actually call home.

She came back through the kitchen with a huge smile on her face. "Oh Ranma, this place is perfect! I love it." She stood in the middle of the room and looked out through the window to the yard outside. "It's beautiful, it's just beautiful. I never thought I'd be lucky enough to stay in a house like this."

He watched her walk through the rooms again. It was strange that the loneliness that they had been sentenced to was having an opposite attack on the young girl. The peaceful demeanor was still there, but beneath it a spark had been lit. Before the accident, Kasumi had seemed somewhat too tranquil at times, but he had learned that it was a face she wore as she fulfilled her obligations to her family, and that inside, she yearned to have a little more excitement in her life. Most people might have missed the subtle changes in her appearance, but Ranma noticed the extra spring in her step, the sparkle in her eyes, and the growing enthusiasm to do more than just keeping house for a chaotic family and their guests.

"So is this a good one?" he asked the excited girl.

She peaked around a corner. "Yes, yes it is. Do you think we can start moving in right away?"

"Don't see why not. I sure am glad you had some driving lessons in high school. Not only did it help out with us finding this place quicker, but it will really come in handy when it comes time to move." He sat down on the couch by the window and admired the rich tones of the wood paneling. He didn't know who had owned this house, but he liked their style. Nothing ornate or too fancy, just good solid wood, earth toned fabrics, and good use of the natural light coming in through some of the windows.

Kasumi plopped down on the couch next to him. "You know, when you first had this idea, I had to admit I wasn't really thrilled about the idea of leaving my home. It was the only place I've ever lived, and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. But now...now I feel as if a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I get to choose! I get to choose my house, I get to choose my furniture, I get to choose where I live! It's so exciting!"

Ranma felt another wave of an increasingly familiar emotion. It was a combination of happiness and pride. Yes, he had those feelings before about the Art, but this was different. He felt a strange warmth inside that he could help Kasumi be so happy in such a potentially foreboding place. Most of the feeling was a direct result of the friendship that was growing between the two of them, and the reassuring atmosphere that Kasumi generated. Ranma had been so used to the harsh criticism of hi father, and yes, even Akane that he didn't realize its effect on him until it was gone. Every day, Kasumi made him feel worthwhile and appreciated, and it was becoming a feeling that he didn't want to go away.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. I noticed a house next door that we might be able to convert over to a place to train. It won't be your family's dojo, but it should be good enough. I'm just glad you're such a good student." _Great student is more like it_ he thought. _It's like she's trying to catch up for all those years of such a quiet life. Heck, she's helping me as much as I'm helping her. _"I just wish you got to choose who you got to be stuck with as well" he mumbled.

Kasumi quieted down after hearing the last comment. _He still feels like he's unwanted_ she thought to herself. _I'm not sure whether this will help or hurt things, but I've got to try. His idiot father did too much damage to him over the years for him to just come out of this without help._

"Ranma, I know I've mentioned this before, but you have to believe me. I am happier now than I ever have been since my mother died. I know we didn't choose for this to happen, but I promise you, I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the world. And yes, I mean any of it, even you. I couldn't imagine a nicer, more caring person to be with. Thank you, thank you so very much." As she finished the words, she leaned forward and gave him a hug. "Thank you." she whispered.

Now it is true that Ranma had been on the receiving end of glomps, grabs, squeezes, crushes and gropes. But until that moment, he had never felt the warmth of a girl's heartfelt hug. It seemed like time stopped for him during that short hug. He felt his face go red, and a feeling of such appreciation and friendship surged through him. He was also surprised at how much he enjoyed the physical contact. Without a mother for so long, Ranma didn't know the joy of a simple hug from someone who cared. It was simply one of the nicest experiences he'd ever had. As Kasumi drew back, Ranma noticed how much he'd enjoyed the smell of her hair against his head. The last few moments, he had drank heavily of her scent, a mixture of fresh soap with a hint of perfume. But it was more than just smells, it was this feeling that if he could smell that smell, he wouldn't need anything else. It didn't make any real sense to him, he only knew that he felt...full when he breathed it in.

"Wow. Thanks Kasumi", he reached behind his head in embarrassment. "I'm really glad you're enjoying yourself."

She smiled at his confused look. "I am Ranma, I am."

--

They had been at their new location for about four months and had settled into a far different routine than that of the Tendo household. Kasumi still had a hard time accepting how bad her life had formerly been. Being sent to this quiet world had given her a completely new outlook on life. As the days went on, she slowly cast off her quiet acceptance of the former daily grind. Her chores only took a small chunk out of each day. This was actually due to three different factors. The first was the wonderful house they had chose. The fact that it was smaller than the old house immediately made a difference in what was needed each day. The second factor was that without the two fathers and two sisters, she had far fewer people that needed taking care of. The final factor was the most unexpected. Ranma had steadily helped out more and more around the house. Without his insensitive father consistently berating him for being nice, he was changing into a far more balanced and sensitive young man.

She turned away from the stream that ran behind the house to watch Ranma chop more firewood. Well, chop wasn't the best word really. He had managed to combine training with chores so that every bit of his physical energy was still focused on the Art. His blows to the wood that he had carried back to the house shattered the timber into fragments that could be used for the stove. As she watched him reduce some huge logs into firewood, she marveled at now how much he was progressing both physically and academically.

Shortly after they had moved in, they had located a local University's library down in the nearby deserted town. Kasumi had some experience in speaking simple Chinese, so it helped them greatly when they mapped out a plan to become fluent in written Chinese. She smiled when she remembered Ranma's reaction to the task they had before them.

"So how long do you think this should take Kasumi?"

"Well, I'd think we'll need a couple of years at least to get good enough to go to the village."

Ranma face-faulted. "A couple of years! Oh man..." he looked around at the library. "Man I don't wanna haul down here each day. I like our new place."

Kasumi looked at him with a curious smile. "Why would you think we have to come here each day?"

"Well you just said it would take a couple of years?"

"True, but why can't we take the books we need to our house and work there?"

Ranma nodded, "yeah, you're right. It's still going to be tough doing all that studying. I never could stay awake in class before, I don't know how I'm gonna do it now."

"Ranma, why do you think you fell asleep in class?"

"Cuz it was boring, why did I need to learn the stuff!"

"But Ranma, if we learn this, not only may we figure out how to get home, but think of having access to the Amazon village. I'm sure they have some of the Martial Arts techniques recorded there. You'd be able to read all of that information."

His face lit up as he considered the possibilities. "Wow, you're right! Lets get some of these books back to the house!"

Since then, he had thrown himself into his studies. The first few weeks were next to impossible. The poor boy never did learn how to study, but Kasumi found that with a little patience she could coax great achievements out of him. All he needed was a little positive feedback. As she listened to his tales of his childhood each night, she realized that he never had somebody to tell him he was doing good. As she nudged his developing academic talents, she also was rewarded with the feeling that she was actually making a difference with somebody, as opposed to just cleaning up after her family.

She looked at her watch. She was due to meed Ranma in their nearby "dojo" in a half an hour. Just as Ranma was taking so well to studying, she found that she was enjoying Anything Goes just as much. Ranma was developing into a great teacher. Several times he stopped and had to think of a better way to teach something than his father did. The most difficult thing was to convince him to move beyond simple katas and stretching. Simply put, Ranma didn't hit girls. He'd said so many times, and at first it had been impossible to convince him otherwise. About the same time they started studying Chinese, the issue came to a head.

"Sorry Kasumi, I just can't do it" he sighed.

"But Ranma, we need to be able to spar if you're going to teach me anything else."

"I know, I just can't do it. I remember how much it hurt to train, and " he paused, looking down at her feet. "I don't think I can hit you."

"Ranma, I want you to think hard about this. Why not? You've fought Cologne, Shampoo and other women, you know they're not weak. You fought Ryoga, and I know you weren't mad at him every time. Why can't you train me?"

"It isn't right, a guy hitting a girl."

"OK, what if you're a girl a the time? Could you train me then?"

"Don't know. I'm not sure...I could try..."

Kasumi had to use all of her talents to teach Ranma that sparring and training were different than hitting in anger. It had been a slow process, but they were at the point where the small redhead was comfortable training her. When they first moved to the new house, Ranma had been adamant about running to the hot springs whenever some stray water triggered her curse. As the months went on, Kasumi started noticing that Ranma wasn't quite as uncomfortable with her alternate form. Without the Nerima Wrecking Crew and her family around to constantly humiliate her when she was a girl, she found that it really wasn't the issue they tried to make it. Kasumi herself wasn't really fazed at all. In some ways, she had two friends to keep her company, Ranma-kun and Ranma-chan. In her eyes, they were just different sides of the same wonderful soul.

Ah, yes, Ranma's wonderful soul. That was an interesting problem in itself. When Ranma first showed up at the Dojo, she had no interest in a 'younger man.' Turns out, she was just as wrongly prejudiced about 'younger men' as he was about 'weaker women.' Her time with Ranma had proved her suspicion that he was a true gem. Yes, he still had some rough edges, but his kindness, innocence and good nature were growing and emerging every day. What started for her as a friendship of common banishment was now on the verge of changing into something more.

Simply put, Kasumi was starting to fall for Ranma. Even now, she really couldn't imagine anybody she'd rather be with. With him around, she no longer felt lonely or unappreciated. The problem was, Ranma's honor still had him bound to Akane and Kasumi really didn't know how to make him reconsider his options. _Well one day at a time, maybe something will work out. _She walked into the dojo where Ranma had entered shortly before her.

"Ready Kasumi?" Ranma had already shifted to her female form, and was stretching near the wall of the nearby house they had converted to their own personal dojo.

"Yes Sensei." she smiled at his embarrassment at the title.

"Ah come on Kasumi..." he moaned.

She giggled, "Well, aren't you my Sensei?"

"Yeah, but it just sounds weird."

"Nonsense, you've become an excellent teacher, and you should accept the compliment!" she chided him.

"All right, lets get going."

The next two hours were spent in a flurry of punches, kicks and leaps that showed how much Kasumi was progressing. Ranma loved seeing the look of joy on her face as she soared through her moves. _I can't believe it, I think she likes this as much as I do._ He wasn't sure, but he felt he could start trying used Ki-based moves again. He could feel his reserves building again now that he was working out with Kasumi.

They were about done with the workout when Kasumi's fatigue caused her to misjudge a move, causing her to tumble into the corner where the floor was still bare. By the time Ranma realized she might land off the mat it was too late, He watched with horror as she fell wrong and her head whipped against the tile in the corner. There was a sickening thud, and then no motion from the taller girl.

"Kasumi? Are you okay?" Ranma was leaning over the girl, hoping she was just temporarily stunned. When she didn't see any motion she over and nudged the girl. "Kasumi?" Still no movement. Ranma's felt a terrible chill hit her as she realized she didn't see Kasumi's chest moving.

"Kasumi!" She wasn't breathing. He had to do something, but there was no Tofu, nobody around to help. It was the one unspoken nightmare they both shared. What if something serious happened to one of them?

"Kasumi!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Ranma desperately tried to remember the CPR techniques that she had seen on TV. She quickly began the series of chest thrusts and mouth to mouth that fortunately brought Kasumi quickly back to consciousness.

Kasumi looked up and Ranma and gave a weak smile. "What happened?" she whispered.

"You cracked your head against the floor when you fell" She choked out the next part. "You stopped breathing..."

Her voice was still shaky. "I'm lucky you knew what to do."

A strange look appeared on her face. "Yeah, you're right. But I was lucky too. Lucky and stupid!" she growled.

"Stupid? what do you mean?"

"We've been here for what? Over 4 months! And this whole time I've just been hoping that we'd never need any doctor for anything. All this time I've always said how a Martial Artist's duty was to protect people, but what good is it if something as simple as a fall, or something worse like an appendix going bad is enough to...take you away."

"Ranma! We both know that there are risks involved with staying here. You just saved me, why are you so mad at yourself?"

Her eyes bored into her. "Because, we don't know if we'll ever get back. You know it, I know it. I know I've said I'd get us back, but we both know that I still have no clue. I'm spending all of my effort on getting back, but ignoring taking care of us while we're still here."

_Wow_ she thought _she...he really is growing up. _

"What if we can't get back? What then? You've told me before how much you're enjoying this, but I've never said anything to you about it."

Kasumi stayed quiet, if this were going where she thought it was, she didn't want to spook her.

She continued in a softer voice. "Kasumi, I know it sounds weird, but I've never had more fun than I have this last four months. It's been like a wonderful dream. You're..." she stopped, and tried to focus her thoughts. "You're the best friend I've ever had. Yeah, I always said that Ukyo was my friend, and she was...or is...but that was nothing compared to this. I look forward each day to spending more time with you. You are kind, and beautiful, and the most wonderful person I've ever known. "

She paused again, seeming to build up nerve. "Kasumi, I'd love to get home again and see everybody, but if we can't, I won't care...I wouldn't trade this for anything, or anyone."

Kasumi was filled with turmoil. _Okay, this is it. This is the perfect time to bring up Akane. I think I know what she feels, but she needs to admit it to himself. _"Ranma, what about...Akane?"

She pulled back slightly, and she could see the turmoil in her face. "Kasumi, if you'd asked me that six months ago, I'd have had a quick answer for you. I guess she was the first girl that really showed me any kindness. She helped me a lot while I was at your house, and I think in some ways she really cares for me. The problem is, I can't take the anger from her. Every time she didn't believe in me, or falsely accuse me, it hut...it hurt a lot. I don't think I really realized how bad it was until I saw something better."

"What do you mean?"

"I always thought I loved Akane. You have to realize, compared to my Dad, she was a princess" she laughed at that. "If the people you know only show you anger, you get desensitized to it." She stopped, looking uncomfortable again.

"Go on" she prodded.

"Kasumi, you are like an Angel" she started to gush. "I didn't know how nice somebody could be until I've spent this time with you. And it's not just that you're nice, it's that you are a wonderful person. You've made me laugh, made me learn, made me proud to be who I am. Heck, I've even become comfortable in this form." She looked down at her ample chest. "Well...at least more comfortable" she blushed, looking back up to Kasumi. She breathed in deep, let it out, took one more and then stated. "It all comes down to this, I don't care about what happened in the past. I don't care what Akane thinks, I value your friendship more than anything. If it means Akane hates me...so be it."

_Wow, so far, so good _she thought, but "Oh my" is all that came out.

"Look, I don't know what you think of me, and I don't know how you really feel about this curse...no, condition...of mine, but I do know that I'd like you for...a friend for as long as we are here. And I promise you, I'll take care of you. If that means learning a lot more than Chinese, then that's fine with me."

_This is my best shot at knocking him out of the mindset he's been in for so long... _She sat up next to him. "Ranma, I know you've had a tough life, and haven't had the best luck with relationships, but don't sell yourself short, I think we might be able to be even more than friends...if you'd like." As she finished, she leaned forward and gave him a brief, but heartfelt kiss. She had steeled herself for the possibility that when this time came, he may not be a male. She was definitely more comfortable with him being male if it came to show any affection, but she had already decided that if Ranma was female, it wouldn't be a show-stopper. As she leaned back and watched the "Ranma operating system" come to a complete stop, she was glad she was prepared for this eventuality.

It took Ranma a good while to come out of the daze she had entered when kissed. "Wow..." is all she could force out. She tried to be a little more eloquent about her response, but all that would come out was another "Wow..."

Kasumi smiled at his simple response. "What's the matter Ranma, I thought you were prepared for anything, don't tell me I've actually caught you by surprise?"

"Uh...yeah?" she managed to get out. "I didn't know if you felt that way about me."

Now was the time to be confident. Ranma would detect any show of uncertainty and interpret it as a negative signal. "Let's just say I'm open to explore the possibilities. Actually, I guess I'd be more accurate if I said was was hopeful about the possibilities. In the time we've been here, I've come to know you a lot better than I ever knew you before. Let's just say that it's altered my opinion about 'younger men.'"

Ranma waited, thinking about how to say the right thing this time. She didn't want to blow it by saying something stupid. In the end, she decided to be as honest and direct as possible. "I'd like that Kasumi, I'd like that a lot. And if it means anything, I feel the same way. I'd always wondered what it was like to have a real girlfriend, I suppose this must be what it is like."

He looked at her with an unsure, quizzical look. "So what do we do now?"

"Ranma, that's the easy part, we just do what we've been doing all along. The only difference is that we have at least acknowledged it. With nobody here to bother us, we can take it at our own pace, and let it develop naturally, without forcing anything."

"But Kasumi, I'm not exactly natural like this."

"Ranma, you are who you are, no matter what you look like on the outside. You don't become a different person, you just look like one. It doesn't bother me, I see the real you no matter what you look like."

Ranma stood up and reached out to give Kasumi a hand. "Sounds good to me." He helped her up and they walked back to the house like they had many times before after practice. The only difference is that this time they were holding hands.

--

The months flew by as Ranma and Kasumi threw themselves into their studies of Chinese. Each day was dedicated to physical exertion in the morning, followed by studies in the afternoon. After the incident in the dojo, Ranma had begun collecting medical books as well. He had taken his vow to Kasumi seriously, and did not want to be unprepared for any medical emergencies again.

Kasumi found she was surprised at herself. She knew Ranma wasn't like most other boys, but she still expected Ranma to be more...forceful once she admitted that she was interested in him. Instead, he remained cautious. The romance that was developing moved slowly, but surely. She was surprised because she found herself becoming impatient with its rate of progress. She assumed that in some ways, his innocence and concern about being too overbearing were acting as catalysts to her own emotions. She knew that usually it was the male that was the initiator when it came to romance, but more than once she had to let him know that it was okay to show the emotion, that she didn't think he was some kind of 'pervert' as her sister was so fond of labeling him as.

It was almost a month after the scare in the Dojo. Kasumi had managed to get Ranma to relax enough that they often held hands and stayed close, but Ranma really hadn't initiated anything yet. Oh she enjoyed the continued closeness and more relaxed conversations that he was now capable of, but she was hoping for more. They were finishing a walk down to the small store at the bottom of the mountain they lived on when Ranma said "Kasumi, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course Ranma, what is it?"

He stopped and walked over to a large set of rocks that they could sit on. He motioned Kasumi to sit down, and after she chose a spot, he sat down next to her. "Kasumi, I don't know what to do..."

"About what?" she wasn't sure where this was going yet.

"About Akane..."

"Oh. Okay..." _Come on Ranma, do the right thing this time, don't live for other people's commitments, live for your own _Kasumi thought.

"Well, I guess I'm technically still engaged to her. The problem is, I don't think I want to be any longer."

"And why not?" After all this time of waiting, she wasn't about to let him off easy!

"Aw...you know why..."

She kept the neutral look on her face with great difficulty. "Well, I think I do, but I think it would be best if you told me yourself, don't you"

Ranma blushed with embarrassment. She was right of course. Over the months she'd shown him that being open and honest with your feelings did not get you pounded every time. _Ranma Saotome isn't afraid of anything, I can do this_! "Because I like you instead. I...l-l-l-love you." He looked into her brown eyes, and knew that he did indeed love her. He never knew what affection with a descent person was until he was with Kasumi. He gazed into her serene face, and knew that he had to let her know how much he cared. "I love you very much. I know I haven't been very good at showing how much I care about you..."

"Oh but you have Ranma, you have very much" she giggled. "You just don't realize it, do you?"

"Nope, guess not. Anyways, I just want you to know, that I love you, and that I don't care that we're stuck here, I couldn't imagine being with anyone else." And with that, he leaned forward, and kissed her.

This wasn't like the brief kiss in the dojo. Ranma had decided that if he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. To be honest, all he knew how to do was just a longer version than in the dojo, but this time, he was an active participant.

_Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! _Kasumi's mind raced. The first time she kissed Ranma he had been a girl, and she was trying to show her affection, but it was a one way kiss. This time, Ranma was an active participant, and it exceeded every expectation she had. He wasn't aggressive, or pushy, she just felt the love flow from him like a mighty current, and she was happily carried away.

--

Kasumi didn't know it, but Ranma savored every day of their time together. He was so happy being with such a wonderful girl, that he was afraid of advancing the relationship for fear of rejection. After sixteen years of virtual abuse, he relished every day of the love and caring that Kasumi gave him.

Kasumi surprised him in another way. She was becoming a Martial Arts prodigy in her own right. Everyone had assumed that Akane was the Martial Artist of the family, but Ranma now knew better. After nine months of training, she was easily Akane's equal. Much of her advantage came from her ability to remain calm and centered in the heat of battle. No matter how much Ranma tried to taunt her during practice, she remained focused on her attack. He had already seen traces of a battle aura forming, and anticipated that within the next few months, she would be ready for Ki based moves as well. He truly enjoyed sparring with Kasumi, and had recently felt comfortable enough to do so as a male, which Kasumi took as the highest compliment. She had once again demonstrated to him that girls were not weak, and finally that sparring was not hitting.

They both estimated that they had at least several more months to go before they should hazard a trip to the Amazon village. Ranma's progress at self-education was rivaling Kasumi's progress as a fighter. They egged each other on by making silly challenges out of the slightest things.

All in all, they both were enjoying life so much, they hardly thought about life the way it was before they came here.

Eight months after their arrival, Ranma found Kasumi out in the yard looking at the sunset.

"Hello Ranma, isn't it a beautiful evening?"

He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "It sure is. Another day in paradise."

"It is very nice." She snuggled in close to him. "So what did you get in town today?"

"Oh, just looked for some supplies." He seemed nervous about something though. Kasumi knew him well enough now to spot the subtle signs. Ranma couldn't tell a lie if his life depended on it, and anything that even hinted at secrecy upset him.

"What kind of supplies?"

"Oh, nuthin special. I did find something you might like though." He reached into his pocket.

"You found some chocolate?"

Ranma smiled. _Who knew that Kasumi was a closet chocolate-aholic?_ "Nope something I thought you'd like even better."

He had her interest now. "What? What?"

He pulled out the small black felt box and opened it, showing the heart-shaped diamond ring inside. "Kasumi Tendo, will you marry me?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Kasumi Tendo became Kasumi Saotome on the nine month anniversary of their arrival. They had decided that they would have a small ceremony, even if they were they only ones there. They exchanged vows in the yard in front of their home at sunset. Akane never would have believed it, but Ranma had never pressured Kasumi, and they decided that they would like to be married before they became...too familiar. Oh there had been some close calls, and both parties were tempted, but both of them had decided that since they were making the rules in this strange land, they might as well feel good about their choices. Honor was important to both of them, and they were proud of how they had handled their engagement.

They were sitting with each other under the large tree in the front yard watching the sunset. Kasumi was sitting against Ranma's chest with his arms wrapped around her. "Ranma" she asked "are you really happy to be married to me?" Even though she knew he really loved her, she never tired of hearing him say it.

He gave her a squeeze. "I sure am. I'm not sure why we're here, or how we'll get back, but I swear to you, if I died tomorrow, I'd die a happy man. I wouldn't trade the time we've had together for anything.

She snuggled in closer to him. "Thank you Ranma. That means a lot to me. It's good to know I'm appreciated, and how much you really want to be with me. Before you came, I took care of others, but nobody took care of me. Now, I finally have somebody who really cares about me, and it makes me feel just as good as you do. The funny thing is, I used to consider taking care of my family as a duty, but now it's something I enjoy doing for you."

"Yeah, it's funny how having that you love changes perspective on all that you do."

Kasumi paused, trying to remember something. "Ranma right before we came here, do you remember what you were searching for?"

He had to think about it for a moment, it seemed like a lifetime ago. "Yeah, I was worried about being a One Trick Pony." The phrase made him smile now, back then, it had caused him a lot of grief.

Kasumi shifted against him, then continued her question. "You didn't find an answer back then, but how do you feel now?"

He thought about how much they had gone through so far, and how much more was required of them. "Like I've found my answer."

She didn't understand his response. "You mean you like this place?"

He immediately shook his head. "Well, yes and no, but this place wasn't my answer. You were my answer. Because of you, I've tried new things, cared about new things. Far more than I ever had before. Instead of trying to define myself as the "best there is", I just want to be with you. That means I'd like you to be proud of me, and that means being more than just a Martial Artist, that means being a friend, a husband, and someone who loves you. 'It's kind of funny, I was thinking today about that conversation I had with that old couple in that park just before this happened to us. I didn't know what they meant about having more than my Art to live for, but now, I understand what they meant."

She frowned, a little puzzled by what he said. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Actually, it's pretty simple. Now that I have you, the Art is something I use to work out with you, or to protect you with. The medicine I'm learning is something to take care of you with, the fact that I can cook, build some simple things, like taking walks, is all a product of having you. Now that I have someone to love, to really care for, there is all sorts of things that help make my life complete. Before I had you, all I had was the Art, and it was a pretty poor substitute."

He stopped, then continued on. "I think when I lived for just myself, it was easy to be trapped as a 'One Trick Pony'. I think that's why so many people that surrounded me were stuck the same way I was." He chuckled, "In fact, about the only one who wasn't stuck was you."

Now it was Kasumi's turn to shake her head in the negative. "Not true, I dedicated myself to making the home for my family that my mother couldn't. Oh, I took care of the family, but I didn't grow with them. In many ways, I was just as bad as you." She twisted around and gave him a kiss. "I guess we've helped each other grow nicely. I know one thing Ranma, you are definitely not a 'One Trick Pony' anymore."

They sat in silence, watching the sun dip behind the trees on the farthest hill. Ranma broke the quiet again. "Kasumi, I know we really haven't talked about it too much, other than say we'd like to wait a bit, but I was thinking again about the whole family issue."

Kasumi sighed, she didn't like thinking that much about this topic because it was one of the truly unpleasant issues they had to deal with. "I know what you mean" she agreed. I know we decided we wouldn't try for kids right at first, too much is unknown about our future, but what if we never get back? Or for that matter, what if we can't have kids here?"

Curiously, neither seemed to have aged much during the year they had been here. That's not to say that she still looked the same. While Ranma was always fantastically fit, Kasumi now sported her own athletic look. The months of training with Ranma had toned her body. Neither could explain why the aging process seemed to be slowed or halted, but they assumed is was another strange trait of their banishment. Kasumi was the one who had brought up that with their bodies not aging, they may be able to have children here.

"I know. Hey, if we can't have kids, the issue's taken care of, but if we can, would we want to sentence them to this world as well. I'd die a happy man here with you, but our kids would never have a chance to meet anyone else, and they'd be here alone once we died. Plus..." he paused, and she knew him well enough by now to know that the pause meant he was saying something difficult for him to say or admit. "Plus, childbirth is risky. I don't know if I'd want to risk you going through that without a real doctor present."

She had considered the isolation of their children to be reason enough to hold off, but she hadn't considered the risk to her. "Yes, I guess you're right. But that means you'll just have to keep your promise, won't you?"

He groaned. "Yeah...I haven't forgotten." He'd told her he'd get her back when they first arrived here, and she'd never let him let go of that hope. He still didn't know how he'd do it, but he knew with Kasumi believing in him, if there was any way of doing so, he'd figure it out. "I'll get us back, after all..."

"...Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!" she finished.

--

Time breezed by for the couple. Their first year of being wed continued to be dominated by Chinese studies, growth in Martial Arts, and Ranma's medical studies. Two months after their union, Kasumi was able to execute her first Ki based attack, the Moko Takabisha. Most people would have been surprised with Kasumi learning that particular attack, since it was based on confidence, but being with Ranma had done wonders for the girl. She was still just as quiet and peaceful, but under that calm demeanor was a force to be reckoned with. Ranma had found that when Kasumi set her mind to something, she could be just as stubborn as he was.

In many ways, Ranma and Kasumi were both having the times of their lives, Ranma was enjoying being an instructor, and he couldn't have wished for a better student. His concern for Kasumi had started his interests in medical studies, but he even snuck in some home-improvement training to keep their place up.

When the time came, they were reluctant to admit that they felt prepared to go to the Amazon village. They had made the small house their home in the time they had been there. The thought of leaving their comfortable home to go to the unknown of the Amazon village didn't please them, but the continued existence of Ranma's nightmares had convinced them to not give up on their goal of returning home. The continuity of the dreams, the detail and lack of variation had convinced the two that the dreams were more than just nightmares, they were some time of sign of what might come if Ranma ceased his supply of Ki to the world around them.

--

It was the night before the trip to China. They had spent a good part of the day enjoying themselves at the hot springs. Kasumi watched Ranma walk from the cold stream and admired her husband's other form. Since they had been married, Kasumi had worked hard on freeing Ranma from the conditioning that her sister had induced. As the redhead walked up the hill, Kasumi was glad to see that she carried herself with pride, and didn't mind at all to be nude in front of Kasumi any longer. As she slipped into the hot spring with Kasumi, the now male Ranma waded over to his wife. Ranma caught Kasumi staring "Penny for your thoughts?"

Kasumi shifted over to make room for Ranma "I'm still amazed at watching that. Yes I know it's magic, but somehow when you are clothed, it isn't quite as impressive as watching you without anything on when the change occurs."

"Yeah, it is a bit different I guess." No hint of shame anymore. Kasumi had convinced him that she loved him in both forms, so the guilt was gone. "I'm just glad you like me as I am. You have no idea how screwed up I used to be about this curse."

"Oh yes I do. I saw how it got to you. I just shake my head when I think of how Akane, and even Nabiki had the opportunity to have you for themselves and they both blew it. Ah well, their loss is my gain" she slid her body over his and proceeded to show her just how happy she was.

Ranma decided to express him in a way that his wife could truly appreciate. "Oh my" was all he could say as Kasumi showed how deep her feelings ran..

--

They had decided to travel as light as possible on their trip to China. Each had a backpack on and they were standing in front of the house they'd been in for over three years. Most of the content in each backpack were Chinese language reference books, in case they needed them in the village.

"I'm going to miss this place" Kasumi said, with more than a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Me too. A lot has happened to us in this house."

Kasumi still looked at the house. "Yes, it is a place where we were both reborn."

Ranma turned to look at his wife. She met his gaze and they both got in one of the operational cars they kept on hand for longer trips. Ranma got into the passenger side of the car. He had found long ago that Kasumi loved to drive, and she was taking them to the seaport where they had located a sailboat six months ago. Since that time, they had made many weekend trips to familiarize themselves with using the boat. They were fortunate that Kasumi had sailing lessons when she was younger, and remembered enough information that added to the instructions they found in books, it allowed them to safely operate the sailboat.

"Oh man, why'd the wave have to do that for" lamented Ranma, as she wiped the cold sea water from her face.

Kasumi looked at her husband, who was now a frustrated looking redhead. "Well Ranma, you might as well just stay that way for a while. With no hot springs handy, it's going to be hard to stay male for a lot of this trip."

"I know" she pouted. "I just hoped I'd made it a little longer."

Kasumi scooted over and kissed her. "It doesn't matter. You know I don't mind"

"Yeah, old habits die hard. I guess I just got spoiled having the hot springs available all the time, it was almost like I had control of the curse"

"Ah, Ah, Ah. No 'C' word!" she chastised.

"Okay, my 'condition'" she looked up at Kasumi and smiled. "Looks like this will be a girls sailing trip though."

Kasumi put an arm around the smaller girl and just gave her a hug. "Fine by me, Ranma, fine by me."

--

One of the eeriest signs of their world was the growth of vegetation in the empty cities. Trees and bushes were sprouting up everywhere, and many cars and houses were starting to be lost to the unchecked growth. Many dirt roads were becoming unusable, and they estimated that the trip to the Amazon village would probably have to be on foot.

The trip to China took about two weeks. When they arrived, they quickly found a working abandoned auto. They might not be aging, but buildings, roads, and machines certainly were. They were fortunate in that the roads were still in pretty good shape and they made good time getting to the village. They had to trade cars several times, and then finally shift to bicycles when the last car ran out of gas and no more were to be found.

Riding the bike made Ranma glad he stayed in girl form for most of the journey. _Hate these damn bike seats as a guy!_ She thought as she pedaled along.

The topic of food came up that evening at the campfire. Ranma had shifted back to his male form at the end of the day, and was talking to Kasumi after their makeshift dinner.

"Well Kasumi, it looks like some of my training with my old man is going to pay off now."

"Yes, I think you're correct. It's been much harder to find unspoiled food here in China."

Ranma looked at Kasumi with a twinkle in his eye. "Yeah but I'll bet if you had nothin' but twigs and rocks you could out-cook Akane."

"Now Ranma..."

Ranma quickly countered. "Oh come on Kasumi, its been one of the topics we never talk about, because it involved Akane. Kasumi, you were there, you saw what came out of the kitchen when she tried to make something."

Kasumi shuddered at some of the creations that even she wouldn't let Akane bring out of the kitchen. The scary thing was, Kasumi only let Akane's best efforts be tasted by Ranma. "Oh Ranma, you have no idea how bad some of her concoctions were. I managed to keep the worst of her efforts from ever appearing in front of you."

"You're kidding! Most of the stuff she fed me was marginally toxic! What else could she have done that was worse?"

Kasumi shifted closer to the fire. "Remember that American movie, _The China Syndrome_?"

"Yeah...kind of..."

Kasumi stared into the coals as she continued her story. "Well, in that movie, the power plant melted and sank down into the ground."

"Yeah..."

"So did one of Akane's dinners" she giggled.

He started laughing too. "No way! when? I never remember that happening?"

"It was when you were looking for the pot that would unlock your curse. You had been gone for a while and Akane wanted to practice making you something 'special'. I have no idea what she snuck into that pot. I was trying to watch her every move. The next thing I know, the pot starts making this strange hissing sound. When drops of goo started to fall from the bottom of the pot I whipped it over to the sink. It was a good thing too because the sink was a lot cheaper to replace than the stove." She sighed at the memory. "I still can't believe how patient you were with her cooking. I felt sick just watching you eat some of it."

"Yeah, but I guess I paid my dues, because look what I have now." He reached over and gave her a kiss.

"Oh, you just say that so I'll cook again tomorrow!" she teased back.

"Uh...yeah!".

They sat quietly for a little longer, when Kasumi spoke up again. "Ranma, you know those dreams you've been having about the nasty black and red creatures?"

Ranma felt a sickening feeling descend upon him. He'd still had those dreams occasionally. None of them were quite as bad as the first one, but they all revolved around these strange round creatures literally eating up the world around him. Eventually, he told Kasumi about them, but she'd never brought up the topic before. "Yes, what about them?" he finally asked.

"I didn't want to upset you any more and I know those dreams bother you a lot, but.." she paused, then went on "...I've started having them as well." She looked down at her hands, not wanting to meet Ranma's gaze.

"When did they start?"

She looked back up at him. "A couple of weeks ago. They were so similar to yours, I figured I just had them after hearing you talk, but I've had three or four now, and they are so realistic, I think I'm seeing the same things you do. I think they are some kind of warning."

He scooted over and sat next to her holding her hands in his. "Maybe they are, but we've been here for a long time, and nothing has happened yet, so we must be doing something right. Somehow, some way, we'll get outta here. I promise"

She looked at him, knowing he meant every word, and she believed him. She'd learned that when her husband set his mind to something, nothing stood in his way. "I know" she said. "After all, Ranma Saotome doesn't lose."

He looked at her trusting smile and added his own line to the familiar motto. "And neither does Kasumi Saotome..."

--

It was a few weeks later and they had finally arrived at the Amazon village. As with everywhere they traveled, the area looked ominous due to the lack of people and uncontrolled growth of vegetation.

Ranma looked around at the abandoned houses. "Not much to look at, is it? Hard to believe this is where the old ghoul came from, huh?"

Kasumi had walked over to an open area in the center of the village. "Ranma, is this the log that you defeated Shampoo on?"

Ranma looked closely at the log. Vines had grown over much of it, and the high grass made the area difficult to identify, but he was pretty sure that over to the left was where the food prize for the victor had been kept when his father helped himself to it. "You know, I think it is. Wow, if I had only known what I was getting into when I challenged her. If I had known, I would have let them keep Pop for a pet and I would have cleared out."

They continued walking through the village, looking for a place to stay. In the center of the village was a large obelisk, with ornate carvings. It looked like a monument they had built to the Amazon people. They passed several more houses and various shops, and they finally found a house near the stream. Whoever had lived there had made a makeshift aqueduct that channeled water from the stream to the edge of the house. There were several leaks in the waterway, but Ranma knew he could fix it up tomorrow morning with ease.

After cleaning out much of the original contents, they went about gathering choice furnishings from the village to decorate their humble abode.

Ranma had taken a break after moving a large table into place. "Not exactly as nice as our old place, is it Kasumi?"

Kasumi sat down at the table he had just finished moving. "No, but we didn't come here for the scenery, did we?"

"Nope, sure didn't. I vote for a final cleanup of our new digs and then a quiet evening tonight. Tomorrow we can start exploring the village for clues about this key" he fingered they key he had placed around his neck. "Hopefully it won't take too long. I hope we can figure out what this is for?"

She walked over and put her arms around him. "I'm sure we will Ranma, I'm sure we will"

--

For the next four weeks, they poked and prodded around the houses in the village looking for some kind of clue. Oh, they found a few locked trunks and cabinets, but the key fit none of them and all opened easily with a good whack by Ranma or Kasumi. Most of what they found in the houses was routine, what you'd expect in any village.

The only thing out of the ordinary was a huge tree of unknown origin growing toward the back of the village. At first glance, it looked just like a really old, large tree, but as Kasumi walked over to touch the trunk, she jumped back with surprise.

Ranma walked over to steady her, concern clearly written on his face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Kasumi managed to get out. She steadied herself and continued. When I touched it, I felt dizzy, and got a little tired. I moved back out of reflex. It didn't hurt, just felt strange, that's all."

Ranma helped Kasumi sit down, then went back over and scrutinized the tree. It still didn't look like anything special, until he opened his Ki senses up a bit and then saw some of the energy stored in the tree.

"Well I'll be..." he muttered. He turned to Kasumi and continued, "Looks like old Cologne didn't keep that staff of hers with her for just balance. Pops and I had heard about trees like this in our travels. Every once in a while, a tree is found that can act as a Ki reserve. A person can slowly stockpile Ki in a staff made from a branch from the tree, and then draw it back out later when they need it. I suppose that explains why the old ghoul had such impressive reserves." He whistled as he looked at how huge the tree was. "Man, the Amazons must treasure this tree."

Their exploration continued for several more days. Ranma was getting frustrated. "I don't know, maybe she didn't say 'go to the village' after all."

Kasumi was getting frustrated as well. She had made herself be patient when they had come up with the plan over three years ago. She did not want to be patient any longer. "What is with these people? We know Cologne gave us a key to something, you'd think they'd have something valuable somewhere! All we've seen is just everyday stuff."

In her searching, her hair which was normally neat and controlled was somewhat disheveled. Stray wisps of brown hair hung over her forehead. Of course the look made her look all the cuter.

He walked over to her and put his arms around her. "You know, you're beautiful when you're frustrated."

She smiled at him. "You say I'm beautiful no matter what! Sometimes I wonder if you just have low standards..."

"Kasumi, you know how many girls I had chasing me, and you know what they looked like, can you honestly say I have low standards?"

"No, but even after all this time, it still feels strange to get compliments."

"Kasumi, one of the worst things about us being here by ourselves, is that you can't see how much better you are than anybody else. Not only are you more beautiful, smarter, nicer and a better cook, I'd say you are already on par with Shampoo as far as Martial Arts ability goes."

She leaned forward, and put her head against his. "I know, you've told me, it's just hard to believe. I know I've come a long way, but I just can't really accept it."

"Don't worry, one day, when we get back, you'll be quite surprised." Ranma knew that if Kasumi kept training with him, she'd be able to take on anybody back in Nerima. The years of training were really starting to show, and Kasumi was becoming a force to be reckoned with.

"So, if you were an old ghoul, where would you hide your treasures? Somewhere where nobody else would tend to look?" he said.

"Or maybe..." Kasumi looked at a large pillar in the center of the village "where everybody would look?"

Ranma pulled back and looked at his wife. "What do you see"

"We've looked in every house, and in the surrounding woods. Wherever they put their valuables, it wouldn't be far away from the village would it?"

"No probably not." he agreed.

"But what if they put it in a most obvious spot, the last place anybody would look." She untangled herself from Ranma and walked over to the obelisk. It was about six feet wide at the base, and rose about 15 feet in the air. Ornate decorations and carvings covered its surface. She began inspecting the sides of the structure and on the third side, she let out a "I think I've found something!"

Ranma looked over her shoulder and saw a place where they key might fit. Finally they would be able to start looking for whatever clue Cologne had left them! He reached in his shirt to pull out the key, and placed it in the lock. It was a perfect fit!

Kasumi was excited as well. "Go on, turn the key."

After over three years of preparation and study, they were sure they had finally found the lock that would allow them to take advantage of all that work. Ranma turned the key...and nothing happened...

* * *

_Authors Note: Thanks once again for the great reviews. I'd also like to thank neo82 who will help proof Chapters 15 and on.  
_


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Ranma, not gonna make any money off this, don't own the Langoliers either!**  
**

**Chapter 15**

"Oh come on" cried Ranma, looking to the heavens. "What do we have to do to get outta here?" He looked back at the key in the lock and turned it back and forth several times. He could feel movement in the lock, but nothing happened.

"Stand back!" he commanded as he moved away from the structure. "I'm going to see if I can blow our way in." In the years of training, he had built his Ki reserves up to the point where most of his Ki-based attacks were functional again. "Moko Takabisha!" he roared. The effort was futile however as the monument showed no sign of damage. _That's odd _he thought_ I would have expected to see something happen. It may be strong, but it should show some damage..._

"Man this thing is locked up tighter than Nabiki's bank account!" He had left the key in the lock and now sat with his back to a nearby wall. Ranma Saotome may never lose, but right now he was feeling pretty darn frustrated.

"Ranma, we must be missing something..." Kasumi, always the calm cool one. Kasumi may have envied Ranma for his skill in the art, but Ranma always envied Kasumi's ability to stay above it all, to not let the frustrations of everyday life get to her.

"Kasumi, we've been all over the village, heck the countryside. We haven't seen anything. Not one clue. This has to be it! Heck, you saw how my Ki attack didn't even scratch it, but the key doesn't work! Maybe the key got broke coming through with us?" He stared off into the village, not looking at Kasumi.

She wasn't fazed. "No, this has to be it. We've done too much work, too much research. We're missing something." She scrunched her eyebrows together in concentration. _This has to be the key, why won't it open for Ran... _"I wonder..." she said as she reached for the key.

Kasumi turned the key, and immediately a loud rumbling was heard inside the obelisk. A door opened up in front of them and slowly swung outward, revealing a spiral stairway leading underground.

Kasumi had a huge grin as she turned back to Ranma. "Just needed a woman's touch, that's all."

Ranma shook his head in bewilderment. "But how, I tried that key several times, and it didn't work?"

"And whose village are we in?" she asked. "The Amazon village. As in women leaders, men aren't worthy, and why in the world would they let a mere man open the door to the Amazon treasures?"

"So since you're a girl..."

"...it opened right up for me! Shall we go on down?" she beamed at him.

"Hold on a sec. I need to get a couple of things." He disappeared into a storage hut nearby and retrieved a few torches. When he came back, Kasumi had retrieved a cup of water from the nearby stream.

"What's that for?" he asked her.

"Well, if the Amazons didn't want a man unlocking a door, I wouldn't be surprised if they had more surprises inside that only worked on men."

She handed the cup to Ranma, who didn't say a word, but just placed his hand in the cup, triggering the change. It was strange how long it took for him to realize that rather than dumping water on him, all he had to do was just stick his hand in some water. It really saved on being damp all the time.

After lighting one of the torches, they proceeded down the carved stairway into the chambers below. The stairs went down several flights before opening into a passageway that led to the North. The path seemed to be headed to a nearby rocky hill. When they had traveled enough distance to be under the hill, the tunnel opened into a huge underground chamber. Ranma noticed several torches on the walls and in stands around the area, so he lit one after another.

As the light increased, so did their sense of being overwhelmed by the task before them. Within the chamber were row after row of cabinets, each filled with books, manuscripts and scrolls of unknown content. They were looking at a proverbial haystack of written work, and they weren't even quite sure what the needle they were looking for looked like. To the one side of the chamber was what appeared to be a weapons locker. As they walked around the perimeter of the large chamber, they passed book after book, and if Ranma was correct a storage locker for jewels and gold.

"This may take a little while, huh Kasumi?"

Leave it to Ranma to state the obvious.

With so much before them, it was hard to even decide where to begin. The notes and signs on the top of the bookcases were cryptic, and seemed to be in some archaic forms of Chinese. Since they could perceive no real order in the collection, they decided they might as well start at the area closest to the main door and work there way in. As luck would have it, one of the first books near the entrance was a book on Amazon law. They grabbed as much as they could hold and proceeded back to the entrance. There was no reason to review the material in this gloomy cavern.

When they were back at their new Amazon house, they spread the books and scrolls they had brought up on the large table by the window.

The first book they looked through was the book on Amazon law. Even skimming the book, they recognized several sections that could help them deal with the Amazons if they managed to find their way back. They then started looking through some of the other books they brought back up with them, and as luck would have it, most were dealing with Marital Arts. Within a few minutes, they were both so excited they were interrupting each other.

"Holy cow! Look at these techniques! Man, pop would have sold me ten times over just to get hold of one of these books..."

"Oh My! There are some really interesting ways of controlling your Ki that we hadn't thought of before..."

"Wow, I though Doc Tofu had some good medical books, these old bats have stuff that puts his to shame..."

"I had no idea that Amazon cooking was so fascinating..."

And so on. They had clearly found the Amazon treasure trove, and the two of them knew they were in for a real learning experience.

--

Time passed quickly for the two castaways in the Amazon village. Weeks ran into months, months quickly stretched to years.

One of the things they broke up their exploration of the Amazon written works was the learning of the multitude of Martial Arts techniques found in the books. Ranma was aghast out how little Cologne had shown him of the true repository of Martial Arts techniques available to the Amazons.

An observer wouldn't have learned much watching the two spar after learning more and more of these techniques. Even the most trained combatant would only see quick blurs and hear loud cracks of strikes as they practiced their new moves. Many times each of them would fade from view as they learned to not only hide their visual presence with a version of the Umisen-ken, but with techniques that could also mask their Ki signatures as well. As intense as these sparring sessions were, they always ended with the couple walking back to their house, hand in hand, talking about the training they had just completed.

They both found that Martial Arts techniques weren't the only things that Cologne had either failed to mention or didn't know herself. As time went by, each of them repeatedly came across, cures, potions, pressure points or magic that could have cured almost all of Ranma's problems back home, and then some. One of the few solutions that eluded them was a cure for Ranma's condition. It seems as though the Jusenkyo curse was permanent.

Many people back home would have wondered why Ranma didn't visit the cursed pools to try to rid him of his curse. Kasumi had been the one who had pointed out the problem with that on their journey to China. Ranma had brought up the possibility of traveling to Jusenkyo.

"What do ya think Kasumi. Do you think we could visit Jusenkyo to see if the springs have returned to normal? I wouldn't have to be like this anymore?" she said.

Kasumi looked back at Ranma, she had been looking out at the ocean, wondering how much longer it would take them to make land in China. "What was that Ranma?"

"I said, do you think we could stop by Jusenkyo before we get to the village? Maybe the springs are back to normal by now."

It took a moment for Kasumi to catch up to what Ranma was talking about. "Oh, you want to try to jump in the Nannichuan?"

"Well...yeah! I mean I wouldn't have to be a girl anymore!"

Kasumi giggled at her show of emotion. Ranma was so cute sometimes. He didn't try to do it, but somehow, when he was in girl form, it just came out so naturally. "So you want to jump into another spring?"

"Yeah!"

Kasumi thought for a moment, then added "Has anybody else jumped in a spring who already had a curse?"

Ranma then thought for a moment, "Yeah, Pantyhose Taro..."

She had a look of unending patience when she asked him the next question. She knew the answer to this question, and wondered why he never put two and two together before. "And did Mr. Taro turn into whatever drowned in the new spring?"

Ranma's expression of hope quickly faded. "...not exactly..."

"Not exactly? What happened?" she asked.

Ranma gulped. "The curses kind of...mixed."

"I see. Do you have any reason to believe that the same wouldn't happen to you?"

"No" she said in a small disappointed voice.

She reached over and grabbed Ranma's hands, forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Ranma, I've told you before that your curse doesn't matter. I suppose that is only partially true."

Concern flashed across Ranma's face and Kasumi hurried to correct herself. "Wait, let me finish. Your curse, as it is right now, doesn't bother me. You are a wonderful person to be with in either of your forms, and I'm proud to be seen with you. However, if the results of the springs mixed, I can't honestly say how easy it might be to be as comfortable in whatever form you might end up with. Do you understand?"

Ranma nodded vigorously. The possibilities were making her somewhat queasy.

"I thought so. I like you the way you are, please don't change that okay?"

"You got it Kasumi!"

Since that time, he never mentioned Jusenkyo again. She returned to her search through the archives, tossing books that dealt with Amazon lineage and family history, keeping anything of interest in a pile to her left.

Reading through the archives was generally boring work, but they grew to appreciate the Amazon's abilities to gather esoteric moves, forms and techniques over the ages. They also began to learn about magic, and its limitations. Most magic involved tapping into to the worlds Ki and manipulating the manifestations of matter that this Ki helped define and enforce. They were surprised to learn that some magic was possible when a Ki adept stored some of their Ki in an inanimate or living object. The scroll that Gosunkugi used was an example of this type of magic.

They had made a significant dent in the archives, with still no clue as to how to actually return to their own world. They were walking to the top of a hill near the village one evening after another unproductive day in the archives.

Kasumi could tell something was bothering her husband. "What's wrong Ranma?"

He turned and gave her a quick smile "Nuthin. Why?"

Ranma might be a magnificent Martial Artist, a wonder husband, and a promising man of medicine, but one thing he had never been able to do was lie.

"Ranma, you know you can't lie to me to save your life. I know some thing is bothering you. What is it?" She reached over and held his hand as the reached the top of the small peak.

"Well, I was wondering lately. We spend so much time going through that stuff from the cave every day, and I was thinking...is it worth it?"

They sat down on their favorite log which overlooked the valley. They both looked out at the fading day as Kasumi finished his thought "You mean is it worth all this effort getting back, when we are both pretty happy right now?"

He wasn't surprised Kasumi knew what he was thinking. Over the years their bond had strengthened with every day. He knew it sounded silly, but he realized he really did find his soul mate, the other half of him that made him whole.

"Yeah, who knows if any of this will get us anywhere. I'd hate to waste this time with you."

Kasumi chuckled at the thought. "Ranma, as near as we can tell, we're not even aging! I don't think we're really wasting our time. Plus, I enjoy being with you. Every day we embark on our own type of treasure hunt. We haven't found the grand prize yet, but look at all the wonderful things we've learned. I don't look at it as a waste of time."

"You know what I mean. I'd rather be enjoying more time with you than pawing through ancient Amazon history."

"Oh it isn't that bad. Look how much Martial Arts we've learned going though those archives. Why during the first week we found out several ways to get out of the Kiss of Death and Kiss of Marriage." She gave him a quick squeeze. "You just hate changing to a girl each day to go down there."

"No, you know that isn't true. You've done a excellent job making me comfortable now matter how I look. I don't even think about it much anymore. I guess I'm just worried that we may do all this work and find nothing, and then what?"

Kasumi swept her hand across the horizon, "Then we explore, we travel the world. We have an entire world to explore. I couldn't think of anybody better to be with." She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Kasumi could tell his heart wasn't really into this conversation, he was trying to convince himself of something.

He finally said, "So why don't we start now?"

"Because of one simple reason. We'd both like to have a family, and we can't imagine what it would be like for our children to grow up here, with nobody else to meet. It wouldn't be right. This is a wonderful life, but I think both of us would finally want to have a family as well. Plus, if anything happened to either one of us, the other would be left here, alone. No, it isn't something we have to rush, but eventually, it's where we'd both like to be."

She stopped and thought for a moment. "Besides, wouldn't you like to share all of this learning with others? Wouldn't it be great to help others have better lives too?"

He shrugged "Yeah, it would. I just hope we can find out how to get back."

She snuggled next to him. "We will, we will." Those Amazon's never threw out a thing. You know we'll find what we are looking for eventually."

"Thanks Kasumi, I know we will too."

--

The years went by as the couple slowly went through the Archives. They could have made quicker progress if all they did was comb through the contents of the cavern, but when they first started, they decided that they weren't in so much of a hurry that they didn't want to enjoy each others company, and the world around them, as they looked for a way back home. Consequently, they only spent on an average of four to six hours a day going through the material they found underground. The rest of the days were spent in the village above. Some time was spent practicing the Art, but much was also spent hiking, carving, and just enjoying a beautiful day.

When they were about two-thirds of the way through, they finally came across a scroll that looked very familiar"

"Kasumi! Look!" Ranma cried as she held up the scroll.

Kasumi walked around a pile of books on the floor as she came toward him. "Did you find it?"

"I think so! Help me grab some of these books that look like they go with the scroll." He began picking up several old books and papers that were placed with the scroll.

Kasumi helped grab everything that had been placed with the original scroll on the shelf, including several seemingly identical scrolls to the one Ranma first found. She followed her husband through the tunnel, up the steps to their house on the surface and helped spread the items on their "artifact" table.

Ranma pulled open the scroll and read the inscriptions. "Yes! This is it, I'm sure it is, this is just like the scroll that sent us here!"

The two women spent the next several hours going over the scrolls and the accompanying books. After they had both scanned most of the documents, they talked about what they seem to have found.

"Well, it looks to me like this is what we were looking for. Looks like the Amazons had several of these scrolls locked up in their archives, along with some books describing how to use the scrolls. The stuff that you looked through looks like it was written by some of the Elders who had the same type of visions we've had about the ball-creatures with the big appetites." Ranma pulled on her pigtail, a sign Kasumi had long ago learned to associate with Ranma being worried about something.

"But..." she prodded.

"But, I didn't see anything right away about a counter-spell or somethin' Looks like they used the scrolls as a one-way ticket to send people they really didn't like away."

Kasumi nodded in agreement. "Yes, that seems to correspond to what I've read. It looked like most of the accounts of people sent to this world ended in relatively quick deaths after three or four days."

The two continued to look through the documents for the remainder of the day, and the next, and the one after that. When they felt that they understood everything they could about the scroll, they recapped their finds the final day after dinner.

Ranma started off the discussion. "So Kas-chan, what do you think?"

Even though it wasn't out of the ordinary with her husband, Kasumi still felt a swell of pride that he always valued her opinion on things. She had too many years of living at home where nobody seemed to care what she thought. "Well, I guess it doesn't look to good does it?"

Ranma had learned to be patient when talking to Kasumi. She would readily let him dominate the conversation, but he had learned that she had terrific insights and always had great ideas. "Go on..."

"As near as I can tell, these scrolls are a one-way ticket to this world. Most of the Amazon writings refer to the scroll as the 'Scroll of Yesterday'. It seems this was a seldom used punishment, due to its vicious nature. When used, it knocked the target individual out of the normal progression of time into a world of Yesterday. At this point, we only have visions of the elders..."

"...which correspond with our dreams" interrupted Ranma.

"...which correspond with our dreams. It seems that the world of Yesterday is a lifeless gray world, that is consumed by creatures called Langoliers. It is effectively a death sentence, only the reader of the scroll doesn't necessarily have to kill the person themselves."

"I agree. The real question is, why haven't we met that same fate? I think it's because of the large drain on my Ki when we first got here. For some reason, my supplying of Ki to this world is protecting it from the Langoliers."

Kasumi nodded, "I agree. That's why we see it go gray, like in our dreams, when you cut off the supply that one time. Basically, you are giving life support to this world, and keeping us alive as well."

Ranma reached behind his head in his trademark move. "Yeah, I guess I am. We should get you used to doing the same, at least as much as you can, if something ever happens to me."

Kasumi grew pensive. "Ranma, if something happened to you, I wouldn't want to be left here by myself!"

He grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. "No, I know that. I just mean that if I were to get really injured. We know I can keep supplying the Ki while I sleep, but if I got knocked out for a bit, I'm not sure what would happen. It would be good if you could be my emergency backup."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." she agreed.

"So, the next question is, how do we get back? I didn't see anything about doing that, did you?

Kasumi shook her head. "No I didn't, I think I understood how the scroll got us here. It interrupted our...synchronization...with the world's natural Ki flows. This knocked us into yesterday, but I don't know how we're supposed to undo that, to get us back in sync."

Ranma sat back in his chair, with a determined look in his face. "Me neither. I guess it's back to the archives. But this time, let's see what we can learn about using our Ki for 'magic' as we've seen them talk about before. Maybe we can adapt the scroll to make it work backwards somehow."

So the two of them returned to their normal routine. They had done it for so long, it really wasn't too much of a disappointment, more of an extension to an already long, but pleasant journey.

In her heart though, Kasumi knew they'd scored a major victory with the finding of this scroll. It wasn't the way home...yet...but she knew Ranma would come up with something. Once he had a foot in the door, a problem didn't stand a chance against his will. She remembered how long ago, when she struck her head during one of her first practices with Ranma how he had vowed to learn how to take care of her better. Many of his friends wouldn't recognize the Ranma they knew. He was almost as good as Tofu was when it came to chiropractic techniques and acupuncture. He was also becoming an accomplished carpenter, and his cooking was almost equal to Kasumi's. She didn't want to bring up some of the old memories, but she remembered how he wanted to be more than a 'One Trick Pony'. She thought it was somewhat funny that he had grown so much, in so many ways since, that he never even thought about that label that was used on him so long ago. It was ironic that for Ranma to find himself, he had to be separated from everyone he knew in Nerima.

* * *

_Authors Note: It may seem like I'm repeating myself, because I am. Thank you again for all the kind reviews. Yes, they are almost home, and yes the story is not over yet. I estimate another six chapters before I'm through._


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

When Ranma and Kasumi first found the 'Scroll of Yesterday', they thought it would be a short time before they would be returning home. That short time turned out to be another five years of intense study of Amazon magic and Ki manipulation. At this point they both were Ki adepts, able to form weapons and shields of Ki at will. Most of the magical techniques that the Amazons recorded had been mastered by one or both of the young couple.

During this time, no documentation was ever found over how to undo the effects of the scroll that sent them to this version of the world. That was what took them so long to get to this point. Like many of the challenges that Ranma had faced before, this had no direct answer. Instead, he had to adapt and change what was known into something new that could provide him the help he so desperately needed.

The biggest problems they faced was the possible solution that they had both come up with was potentially dangerous, very dangerous.

"Yeah Kas-chan, I know it's risky. The problem is, it's either that, or we stay here, forever. I checked the last book I could find on some of the more esoteric applications of Ki-based magic the Amazons had, and it didn't give me a clue. All we have is that original scroll, and the understanding that it knocked this world out of sync with ours."

"I know Ranma". She never did use the Ran-chan name with Ranma. Ukyo had used it so much with Ranma it just never seemed right. "Unfortunately, I agree with you. I think we've learned as much as we can from the archives. We've gone over things back and forth, and have mastered everything we possible could master. It comes down to a simple question really, do we risk everything we have to get back."

Ranma nodded. "As much as I've enjoyed our wonderful life here. I think I'd like to have that family, to hear birds again, to see some people. I've felt as if I've been on a wonderful long vacation with the best person I could possibly spend it with, but I feel that I should return"

She smiled at her husband. In their many years together, they had helped each other so much, and in helping each other, had grown fantastically close together. Ranma spoke the words that Kasumi felt in her own heart. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, if I understand this whole Magic-Ki thing, what we have to use is Ki to put us back in synchronization to the real world.. As near as I can tell, when this world splintered off, it's passing of time doesn't match that of the real world, so we may come back a day after we left, or a thousand years. Our goal should be to adapt the magic in the scroll with our Ki to try to send us back to the time we left. I have a feeling that's why we've never really aged during our time here, in some ways, we're still linked to our time before we were sent here."

He rolled the Scroll of Yesterday out on the table. "If I'm correct, all I have to do is read the scroll with the changes I've indicated here, add my Ki to the scroll's magic field, and we should be sent back to the time we left from."

Kasumi frowned with a thought. "OK, that sounds good, if it works. What happens if it doesn't?"

He shook his head and smiled at his wife. "I knew you were going to ask that. Unfortunately, I don't have a great answer. Since I don't really understand how this scroll works, heck even the Amazons didn't really understand it either, I'm not sure what might go wrong."

"Fair enough" she simply stated. "I came to the same conclusions. I vote we give it a try. I heard a quote along time ago from a documentary on TV. 'He who will not risk, cannot win.' I figure it applies to us at this point"

"All right, we'll try it tomorrow morning." He stood up and looked out the window of their modest house. "Let's go home."

"Uh...Ranma?"

"Yes Kasumi?"

"I know sometimes that once you set your sites on a goal, you can get a bit of tunnel vision. For as much as I want to go home, there is some risk to this plan. Just in case something goes wrong, I'd like to take the next week or so to kind of say goodbye to this place."

Ranma turned from the window and looked into the dark brown eyes of his wife. His face blushed a bit as he mumbled, "Yeah, I guess that is a good idea. For as much as I'd like to get home, I have really enjoyed this place. Where would you like to start?"

She smiled at his reaction. "To be honest, I'd like to go back to our first house for a few days, but that would mean we'd have to fix up the boat and make that long trip, and somehow that might be pressing our luck. Actually, I'd just like to travel to some of the pretty spots we've come to like around hear, and just spend time with you. You know, no more traveling to the cave and going over scrolls. Just some time with you."

He walked over to Kasumi and put his arms around her. "I think that is an excellent idea, but let's pick a date when we'll try now, otherwise every day we'll have the pressure of deciding when to leave over our head."

Kasumi nodded and replied "Next week then, a week from today, is that all right?"

--

The next week flew by as the two castaways traveled to their favorite spots. Several times Kasumi mentioned how much she missed their first little cabin and the hot springs nearby. That night, Ranma and Kasumi spent a good deal of it in the throws of passion, and yes, Ranma spent that time in both forms as Kasumi had earlier shown him that when she said she really had accepted his condition, that she meant she had _really_ accepted his condition.

--

The next morning, Ranma and Kasumi were out in the clearing in front of their Amazon house. They were both still a bit stiff from last night's activities, but seemed ready to begin the experiment. No bags were present, since they didn't want to push their luck if this worked or not. The few things they really wanted to bring with them, they had placed in stuff-space earlier that morning. Turns out the hidden-weapons techniques of the Amazon's worked well for packing carry-on items as well!

Kasumi was pleased that she was able to take some of her favorite items that she had collected over the years. Some of them were assorted jewelry that Ranma had found for her, many of the items she carried were 'insurance' if they made it back safely, but the most important were some small figures that Ranma had carved for her while they were in the Amazon village. One of the byproducts of his familiarity with carpentry is that he had curved a few beautiful figurines out of the wood of the huge tree in the village. Between his talent with the carving blades he had found, and the massive infusion of his Ki to the figures special wood, the carving literally glowed with life and beauty. Kasumi valued them more than any of the jewelry he had found for her.

Ranma had the scroll in his hand. "Ready Kasumi?"

Kasumi nodded, "I think so Ranma. What do you need me to do?"

"I wish I knew, but since I don't, I just want you to be on your toes just in case anything unexpected comes up."

"Very well." Kasumi looked around the village. "I guess I'll miss this place too. We've been here so long, it's kind of like leaving our first house all over again."

"Yeah, me too." He walked over to Kasumi and held her in his arms "Kasumi, just in case something doesn't work out right..." He kissed her. It wasn't an extremely long kiss, but she felt every bit of passion he had in that kiss. "Just remember, I love you."

"I love you to Ranma."

They separated, and Ranma pulled out the scroll again. "When I do this, I'm gonna have to cut my Ki connection to this world. I'm not sure how accurate our dreams are, or how fast those things may come, but be ready for 'em just in case."

He shut his eyes, and Kasumi could feel the change occur. Their normal bright village now stood dim before them. What surprised Kasumi is how bright Ranma shown. She had no idea how much Ki he had diverted to their world, but now that he had stopped the flow, he was a veritable beacon to her Ki senses.

Ranma began to recite the spell on the scroll. As he went through the words, Kasumi's danger sense kicked in and she could tell something was coming. It was the same feeling of dread she had in her dreams. _Hurry Ranma, hurry._

She could see them coming across the farthest mountain, maybe about three miles away. Distant, tiny trees shook and fell, whatever the round creatures of their nightmares were, they were coming...quickly.

As Ranma finished the final words to the spell, he infused every ounce of Ki he could afford into the scroll. The scroll glowed blue, and a blue sphere appeared around the scroll. But it wasn't a large sphere, it only was about three feet in diameter. Kasumi knew something was wrong when Ranma's eyes rolled up and he collapsed on the ground. The scroll glowed blue for a few moments longer, then dimmed, and glowed no more.

"Ranma! Ranma wake up" Kasumi yelled. She could see the trees falling as the creatures came closer. From the hills behind her she could hear the noise of their destruction as well. _He didn't have enough Ki to make it work, and now he's unconscious. Those things are coming, what can I do..._

Ranma had never showed her how to infuse her Ki into the surroundings like he did, he was always to afraid to stop even for a few seconds. Their dreams had given them a healthy fear of what might happen if they did. Now it looked like they might pay the price of not trying, as Kasumi tried to open herself up like Ranma did. She tried to calm herself, so she could concentrate enough to let her Ki flow outward. _It isn't working! _She screamed to herself. _What would Ranma do? Think...think...come on, Ranma Saotome doesn't lose, and neither does Kasumi Saotome!_

She continued concentrating, trying to image her Ki flowing out to the surrounding world. Without any warning, the connection was made. She could feel her Ki seep into the countryside, and she watched as the color returned to the ground, plants and sky in an outwardly growing bubble. As it expanded, she felt the drain on her own reserves. She may be an accomplished Martial Artist, but nobody seemed to have the Ki reserves that Ranma did. She decided that she would keep expanding her output until she started getting light headed, and then hold it there.

In a few moments, the dizziness started to hit her. She sat down on the ground and checked the rate of Ki flowing from her. She was surprised to see that her bubble of Ki extended at least two miles before it seemed to stop.

She glanced over to Ranma, who was beginning to stir. Thank goodness he was already recovering. She had to help him recover, but how could she get his Ki levels up quickly? She had none to spare!

The years of working with Ranma and learning to improvise, to pull a victory out of a seemingly hopeless defeat finally paid off. With a flash of inspiration, she pulled out the figures Ranma

had carved for her and pressed them into his hands. _Come on, work! I know this should work!_

Ranma's eyes snapped open as the stored Ki flowed back into him. "Kasumi! What's happening? Did we make it?"

It was hard for her to talk, but she concentrated and forced the words out. "Spell didn't work...not enough Ki...those things have come...I'm supplying some Ki...seemed to stop them...don't know how long I can do this..."

With the kick-start from the figures, Ranma's reserves quickly recharged to the point where he could take over from Kasumi. The drain really wasn't too bad now that he was only supplying a small area instead of the entire world around them.

Kasumi had to stay sitting for a while before she caught her breath. Ranma stayed close and held her. "Kasumi, I'm so proud of you. You saved us! I'm not sure how you helped me recover so soon, but without your quick thinking, we'd be gone by now."

"Thank you Ranma. I know it sounds funny, but I just tried to do what I thought you would do."

Ranma got a puzzled look on his face. "Well ya did great, but how in the world did you get my Ki back up so quickly?"

She smiled at her own ingenuity. "Remember what you had in your hands when you woke up?"

He furrowed his brows as he tried to remember. "All I had in my hands were the figures I made for you..."

"Exactly! Remember what you did to those figures?"

"I put a lot of my Ki into them...oh...Wow! Great thinking Kasumi!" He leaned forward and kissed her.

"Well, thanks, I'll have to do that more often!" she smiled.

--

They had finished walking around the perimeter of what was left of the valley where the Amazons village lay. The sphere of Ki charged earth seemed to form an impenetrable barrier which kept the bouncing, gnashing spherical creatures at bay. Beyond the edge of their safe haven lay only blackness. It appeared that the world that Ranma and Kasumi were now living in was a circle of about 4 miles in diameter.

Evidently, when Ranma had let severed his Ki lifeline to the world, the creatures had attacked with a vengeance. Considering how long he and Kasumi had lived here, they 'back pressure' of these things must have been tremendous. When the Ki support failed, they must have swarmed on the world with incredible swiftness. Ranma shuddered when he though of what surely would have happened to them had Kasumi not thought quickly enough.

Kasumi could tell Ranma was blaming himself for the failure. "Ranma, you did everything you could. Nobody could have done any better, stop blaming yourself."

Ranma shook his head in dis-agreement. "Kasumi, look what I've done. We always said that if we couldn't get back we'd at least have the world to explore, now look at what we've got...the small valley and hills around this village and that's it. If I'd only been able to give a little more Ki to the spell. What are we going to do now?"

"Do you think you can you build up your reserves any more?"

"Maybe, but it might take years to get enough. The magic needs a huge immediate discharge of Ki, and I'm not sure I could store up that much. Maybe if we had five or six people we might have a chance, but even if you were at my level helping me, I'm not sure I'd have enough."

They sat in their chairs, and stared at the now black line on the horizon. Kasumi was the one to try to keep them focused on a solution. "Well, can we get more Ki to use in a different way?"

"How would we be able to store more..." Ranma stopped and looked at Kasumi, who was looking at him with the same smile that he wore.

"The tree!" they both shouted at once. If they used the tree to store up Ki, they could use it like a giant booster cable to supply the extra Ki for the spell.

As they walked over to the tree, Ranma grabbed some water out of one of their buckets and splashed himself. "Always works best when I'm a girl" he explained to his wife.

When they got to the tree, they both lay their hands on the bark and forced some of their Ki into the tree. After a few moments, Ranma tapped into the tree's Ki flows and siphoned some of the Ki back out.

"It'll work Kas-chan, it'll work. We'll have to work fast, with only this little bit of land left, I'm not sure if we'll get any more weather or rain, so we might have to be careful with food. The small lake is still intact, so we shouldn't have to worry about water too much. We'll have to store every bit of Ki this tree will hold and use it for the spell."

--

Four months later, they had the tree filled to the limit with Ki. The darn thing almost hummed with the energy that had been deposited by the couple. Each of them tried not to go too near the edge of their safe haven. Seeing those dancing balls pacing back and forth trying to get in was just too unsettling.

When the tree was filled, they once again brought the scroll out to the clearing and prepared to return to the world one more time. During the four months, both of their resolve had grown to the point where this was going to be an all-out attempt to get back, or die trying. They had agreed that living in this small area would have driven them both mad with time, and that the risk would be worth it.

"Okay Kasumi, this time I'm going to put everything I have into it. We'll use the tree, and we'll use what you can give too. I think that will be enough, and if not...well, we won't have to worry about that will we?"

Kasumi squeezed his hand. "No we won't, because this time, it will work." Kasumi had faith in Ranma. Ever since she knew him, he might have lost a first skirmish, but he never lost the final battle.

Ranma reached down, grabbed the cup of water, and splashed herself. She had found that her connection to the tree was far better when she was a girl. "Then let's do this!"

Ranma and Kasumi placed one hand each on the tree, and one hand on the scroll. As they both began to recite the incantation, they channeled all the Ki they could into the scroll, and used the massive reserves in the tree to augment their own talents. As Ranma neared the end of the text on the scroll, Kasumi looked around to see their world gone gray again, and black and red balls with nightmare teeth tearing through the countryside around them. Five or six of the beasts were heading their way when the Scroll erupted in a bright blue glow, which quickly engulfed the young couple.

In the last seconds on this world, Kasumi was the only one to accurately remember their final moments. As Ranma began to collapse next to her, she saw one of the creatures charge straight towards them. Almost right as it got to them, she saw it begin to fade, and then everything went to the bright blue of the scroll. The last thing she remembered was a feeling of such joy and life that she knew something must have gone right.

--

Kasumi awoke with Ranma laying next to her. Ranma's red hair was disheveled and her pig tail lay across her face. Kasumi sat up and quickly felt for Ranma's pulse, which seemed to be shallow but steady. She used some of the techniques Ranma had taught her and explored Ranma's Ki levels. They were unsurprisingly dangerously low. Since they used every ounce of stored Ki they could get to make the spell work, she had no way of kick starting Ranma's levels back to normal, so she had to wait until he woke up naturally.

She looked around, and was somewhat disappointed to see the familiar, but empty village around her. _Oh please no, please let it have worked! _Something was amiss though. The first thing she noted was that the black horizon was gone! She could see the mountains in the distance again. Somehow they had regenerated their world to where it was before the attack of the beasts.

"Ranma, wake up, we did it!" she whispered to her husband. She wasn't surprised she overdid it when it came to energizing the spell. They both knew it was do or die, and Ranma had once again over-extended herself.

Kasumi was a bit unhappy that hey hadn't returned to their normal world, when the other thing that was nagging the back of her mind hit her. _If this is our 'Yesterday' world, why isn't it gray? We aren't feeding it any Ki! _She stood up, a bit shakily, and walked around, trying to understand exactly what had happened to them.

She started noticing the differences as she continued to recover from the spell. _It smells so clean, so fresh, and it just feels...so alive._ She checked on Ranma again, but she was still out. As she walked around the tree, she thought she heard a musical note rising in the background. _Is it those creatures again? _No, this note wasn't the sound of destruction. It was instead a happy, joyous note that grew in volume and complexity. As Kasumi tried to make out some of the components of the tone, she started to hear voices mixed with the tone. At first, she couldn't understand them, but soon she could hear different women talking, but it sounded like Mandarin!

She ran back over to Ranma and stood next to her, guarding her from whatever was slowly making its appearance. As she stared into the village, she thought she saw some movement! _Yes! I did, something over there! _As she stared at a wall of a house, a ghostly image seemed to appear. It looked like one of the Amazons that used to live in this village. She looked around and saw more and more of the ghostly images appear and begin to get more and more solid. The original musical note was now a roaring crescendo, with a multitude of voices mixed in.

"Ranma, wake up, I need you! Something is happening!" Kasumi looked up again and saw the ghostly images snap into solidity. She tensed as a small girl stared at them. _She sees us!_

The girl looked up to her mother and rattled off something in Mandarin. _I wish we'd learned been able to learn spoken Chinese as well as written. _The mother snapped her head around and also stared at the two women near the large tree. The woman immediately yelled at the top of her lungs something that Kasumi could only imagine was a warning to the village.

Within moments, Ranma and Kasumi were surrounded by a score of Amazon warriors, screaming at the two of them in Mandarin. Kasumi tried to make them understand that they were not enemies, but all she knew was Japanese. She threw her hands up to show she was unarmed, but then changed her mind and grabbed a small stick. She bent over and quickly wrote, 'We are not enemies, does anybody know Japanese?" in the sand.

There was some quick chatter amongst the warriors, and one sprinted away from the group. Within moments, the girl returned with an older Amazon in tow. The new arrival looked at the brown haired girl obviously trying to protect the unconscious redhead and stated "Who are you? Why are you here! Where did you get those clothes, they are from our village, have you stolen things from us?" in acceptable Japanese.

_Finally! _Kasumi thought _Now at least I have a chance to explain! Unfortunately, we do look rather suspicious, what can I say...What would Ranma say?_

"Hi" the young brown haired woman said to the surprised faces around her. "I'm Kasumi Saotome, sorry about this..."

* * *


	17. Chapter 17

Authors Note: Some quick notes, since I have to fit Chinese in as well in this chapter.

- "spoken Japanese"  
_- thought  
- #spoken Chinese#_

* * *

**Chapter 17**

_  
_

The Amazons had surrounded the newcomers and had no doubt that whoever they were, their time on this world was short. One of their cardinal rules was that anyone that got this close to the Tree of Life, was automatically assumed to be hostile. That and the fact that they were wearing clothes of the village made them look exceptionally suspicios.

_#Talc, Conditioner remove the two immediately, place them in the holding area!# _shouted the Amazon named Weave who had spoken to Kasumi in Japanese a few moments ago.

As the two warriors approached Ranma and her, Kasumi could tell that they were not pleased with their presence. She was concerned for Ranma, she didn't know what shape she was in, and she didn't want her to be moved until she had recovered. "Please, let us rest for a moment, then we will be happy to go with you, my friend is hurt, and needs to recover before she is moved!" Kasumi asked of the Amazon in charge.

"Silence! You have no rights at all! You are on Amazon holy ground without being invited, your lives are forfeit by default!"

Kasumi's face fell, "No! Wait! You don't understand, we mean you now harm, please let us explain!"

The request fell on deaf ears, as the two warriors advanced on Kasumi and the unconscious Ranma.

To the other Amazons observing the two warriors approaching the intruders, it appeared as though Talc and Conditioner had triggered some type of explosion as they reached for the brown haired girl. One moment they were moving toward her, the next moment they were both sailing away from her. Only the most seasoned warriors were able to detect a quick blur of movement from the tall girl.

Several senior Amazons barked orders and immediately the bystanders quickly transformed from curious onlookers to armed guards. Weave turned and addressed the Amazons on guard. _#Did you see that speed? I don't want anybody underestimating these two again! It's bad enough Talc and Conditioner were shamed so, but there will be no more mistakes, I want these two taken immediately, preferably alive!#_

_--_

Kasumi was not a happy camper.

She may have been Ranma's training partner for years, and he may have taught her everything he knew, but she was not ready to fight a group of strangers over a misunderstanding. Fighting Ranma one-on-one was one thing, fighting an angry mob was an entirely different matter. Particularly when she was trying to disable but not permanently harm each aggressor.

The initial contact had gone poorly. She wasn't surprised to see how intolerant the Amazons were of strangers. The texts she had read over the last several years made it clear that the Amazons had accepted the 'Shoot first and ask questions later' strategy. It also didn't help that Ranma was still out. She needed to get her revived quickly!

Before she could do anything, two more Amazons approached, one with a long spear and another with a set of Bon-bori's like Shampoo's.

--

Cologne, along with several other elders, were surprised when they felt the appearance of a strong Ki presence in the midst of the village. Strange appearances were not that uncommon for the Amazons. Living near Jusenkyo, the Musk and the Phoenix left ample opportunities for 'surprises'. Unfortunately, most of those surprises needed to be dealt with in rather a harsh manner.

She heard several young people run by her house, and she was only mildly interested in the excitement until she overheard one of the young women yell to another _#What is a Saotome?#._

Her head snapped around at the comment, but before she could question the source of the comment, the woman was gone between two other houses.

Cologne turned back toward the central rooms of the house. _#Shampoo! Come quickly, something is happening, something we need to investigate!# _

Shampoo came out, looking somewhat alarmed at the activity she was hearing in the village. _#What is it great-grandmother? What is going on?#_

Cologne was headed out the door as she yelled over her shoulder _#I'm not sure, but I think Ranma may have returned!#_

_#Aiyah! Airen return!_# Shampoo bolted out of the front door hot on the heels of her great-grandmother.

They quickly threaded their way through the houses to come to the part of the village that surrounded the Tree of Life. Shampoo couldn't get a clear view as she followed her grandmother through the crowd. She could hear one of the Amazons yelling something in...Japanese? She heard something with 'lives' and 'forfeit' and then some coded battle commands that were used only when dealing with the most serious threats to the Amazon nation.

She and Cologne burst through the crowd to see to warriors approach two people at the foot of the Tree of Life.

Cologne uttered a cry of prayer as she recognized Kasumi Tendo standing at the ready, with a red-headed figure at her feet. A curse quickly followed as she realized that the sentries around the tree were approaching the Tendo girl with deadly intent. She liked the Tendo girl and didn't want her to get hurt. As she was about to yell for the women to stop, she saw Kasumi reach down and grab the red-head. _What is she up to?_

--

Kasumi was getting worried. Things were going from bad to worse, and she wasn't sure how much she could protect Ranma and herself from so many armed combatants. _If only we had kept some of the Ki charged figurines, that helped before, what else could I use..._

If she had a hand free, she would have smacked herself on the forehead. They were standing at the foot of the massive tree that stored Ki for the Amazons. True, they had discharged their worlds tree to get here, but she was sure that the Amazons would keep some Ki reserves in their tree.

She reached down and picked Ranma up by the waist. She would have carried her more gently, but there wasn't time to worry about form. She turned and lunged toward the bark of the massive tree...

--

_#Stop her!# _screamed Perfume who had arrived at the scene to see the intruders lunge toward the tree. She wasn't concerned that the fool could harness the power of the Tree of Life, she was worried she might be trying to damage the tree somehow.

--

_#Stand down!# _yelled Cologne. The situation was rapidly spiraling out of control. _#These aren't our enemies! Stand down!_# Her yelling had no effect, and she could see the Tendo girl turn toward the Tree. She hoped that the girl knew what she was doing, anyone but a true Ki adept would get seriously hurt coming in contact with that tree.

--

_It's like playing tag _she thought to herself _and I'm tagging home base. _Her hand made contact with the tree, and then all else went blank.

--

To the observers, it looked like a flash bomb went off at the base of the Tree. Everyone in the clearing was watching the conflict, so everyone suffered the same flash blindness as a huge discharge of Ki entered into the two strangers. Most expected to see two twitching dead bodies at the foot of the Tree when their vision returned.

Instead, they saw two women with blazing auras. The first was the brown haired girl that first held off the initial response. The second was a smaller, red haired girl who was untangling herself from the grasp of the taller girl. The red-haired girl said something to the taller one, and then they both embraced. They separated and continued their conversation/

--

"Wow" said Ranma as she worked her way free of Kasumi's hold.

"Wow" was all Kasumi could respond with. The jolt of Ki was tremendous, they both felt like they had been hit by lightening, only instead of being fried, they felt supercharged.

"Hey Kasumi, you okay?"

"Yes I believe so, and you?

"Fine. So what happened while I was out?"

"Not much. We appear to have returned to our world in the middle of the Amazon's village. They appear to be somewhat angry at our arrival."

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, angry like Akane gets 'somewhat' upset."

"Well, based on what we read in their books, this tree is very sacred ground. As I recall, getting this near to it is punishable by death." Leave it to Kasumi to describe a standing death sentence like it was a minor inconvenience.

Ranma saw several of the braver Amazons begin to advance on their positions. "Nope, not this time." :He concentrated for a moment and a bubble momentarily shimmered around Kasumi and his position. The look on the first Amazon's face was priceless as she crashed into the invisible Ki shield.

Ranma turned back to Kasumi ignoring the somewhat frantic efforts of the hostiles that surrounded their position. "Now where were we...oh yes, so how did we actually get here, I kind of...overdid it...on the spell this time."

Kasumi didn't miss a beat, she quickly recognized the Ki shield technique that they had learned early on in the exploration of the Amazon archives. "When you completed the spell, we appeared in this world. At first I thought we hadn't traveled anywhere, but I noticed that I could see the far mountains, so I knew something had changed. When I first woke up, there was nobody here but you and I. After a little bit, I heard a rising note or tone, then voices.. A few ghosts appeared, or at least they looked like ghosts...I could see through them, and then all of a sudden everyone was here. She moved forward and gave Ranma another huge hug. "We did it, we really did it, we made it back!"

Ranma hugged her back, her head buried in Kasumi's shoulder. "We did, didn't we? I told you I'd get you back. Guess maybe I overshot getting back a bit and things had to catch up with us. I wonder if anybody still remembers us? It's been along time."

They pulled apart as they heard an unexpected familiar voice call to them. "Son-in-law, I see that once again you've cheated the odds! Welcome back!"

The two of them turned toward the voice to see Cologne pogo through the last ring of people. When she got to the edge of the Ki shield she stopped and inspected the construct. "Most impressive son-in-law, most impressive! I take it you learned a bit from your studies? I'm surprised you learned something so quickly."

Ranma was puzzled. First, it didn't seem like Cologne had aged at all, and second, she was talking like they hadn't been gone that long. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a head of purple hair come toward them through the crowd. Shampoo emerged from between two warriors with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Aiyah! Airen and nice girl make it back! This too good! Now Ranma stay in village as Amazon husband!" she almost bounced with glee.

Ranma turned to Cologne. "Hey old...Cologne, how long have we been gone?"

Cologne looked at the two of them. "You've been gone about a month. We gave up hope for you after the first week since the records indicated that most victims of the scroll never lasted more than three or four days."

"But Ranma, we were gone..."

Ranma interrupted her sentence. "...a little longer than that" he completed for her. In a lower voice he told her "they don't need to know any details...yet. We still aren't out of this, and I'm not sure how they're going to take us learning all of their most treasured secrets."

"Oh yes, you are probably right." she agreed.

It was at this time that Shampoo noted how close the two were standing, and how they seemed to be protecting one another. "Ranma, why you stay so close to nice girl?"

In all of the years of their exile, they never really considered that they'd be returning to the exact same mess they left. "Ah...you see..."

Shampoo stamped her foot down. "No, nobody have Ranma for husband but me." She turned to the some of her friends nearby and said #_Take the brown haired girl away! Do not harm her, but I want her out of my sight!#_

Ranma saw two of the girls move toward him and new things were going to get ugly. He quickly tried to remember some of the Amazon laws he had read while searching for a way back. _Yes! That's it!_

"Elder Cologne!"

Cologne raised an eyebrow at the honorific. _What is the boy up to now?_

Ranma raised her voice so others could hear. "I wish to apply for safe passage through Amazon lands, by trial of combat."

A murmur ran through the crowd, as the few who could speak Japanese translated his request.

Shampoo didn't understand. "Great-grandmother, what Airen mean?"

Cologne couldn't hide her look of surprise, then caution. _How could son-in-law now about that? It's an old law that is hardly used, even Shampoo doesn't know it exists. I'm missing something here. _She turned to address Shampoo. "It is an old law allowing a stranger to pass through the lands and not be subjected to Amazon laws. To obtain permission to do so, one must challenge an Amazon warrior to battle, and it only applies to women."

Shampoo's face lit up. "Then it no apply to Ranma, He is male!"

"I believe Shampoo is correct, you may be cursed, but in Amazon eyes you are still male." Cologne didn't know what Ranma was up to, but his request wouldn't be honored, it only worked for women.

"First, the law states that any woman making the request, gains safe passage for herself, and her party, and second who said anything about me taking the challenge?" she replied, showing a casual smile to the crowd.

Shampoo looked perplexed, then asked "Well who fight then?"

Ranma surprised everyone present, when he turned to his wife and said "She will."

"What?" said three people simultaneously.

Cologne who hadn't seen Kasumi's initial defense of Ranma, was the first to elaborate. "Son-in-law, it isn't responsible to let the Tendo girl do this, she isn't a fighter."

Shampoo wasn't willing to let such a blunder pass by without taking advantage of the goof. "Fine, I fight her. Ranma my Airen, so it is my right to battle."

Kasumi looked at Ranma questioningly. "Are you sure about this Ranma?"

"Absolutely Kasumi. Trust me, you can do this."

Kasumi blushed, but realized that Ranma knew both her and Shampoo's fighting skills, and there was no way she'd risk her being hurt.

"Very well Shampoo, I accept your challenge."

Cologne could only look on in shock. _Something is very, very wrong here. There is now way that son-in-law would let the Tendo girl fight for him, he must be up to something, but what?_ "Very well, by the old laws, we accept your request for trial by combat."

--

The match was held on the same damn log that Ranma had defeated Shampoo on so long ago. Now that he knew more about Amazon techniques, he realized that fighting on the log prevented the use of many of the Amazon special techniques that he had learned, or at least most of the easier ones.

Shampoo was trying to convince Kasumi to give up early. "Too too nice girl should not be pretending to be Martial Artist, you go home and leave Ranma to me and not get hurt."

Kasumi stood in a relaxed stance, which if Shampoo hadn't been so overconfident, she would have recognized as the same type of stance Ranma used. "Thank you Shampoo, but I think I'll be fine right here, shall we begin?"

Shampoo lunged forward with a simple sweep kick. She intended to take the Tendo girl out quick and gently, so that this charade would end quickly. She was surprised when her leg passed effortlessly under Kasumi, who seemed to move out of the way without any real effort.

The Amazon upped her attack and released two quick body blows with both ends of her bon-bori. The only problem was that as the spherical ends of her weapon approached Kasumi, they cracked off and landed on either side of her. Shampoo looked at her favorite weapon with a puzzled look. "How you do that?"

_How indeed? _Cologne thought _Even I was barely able to follow her move. And if I'm not mistaken, she used blades of Ki to sever the ends of Shampoo's weapon! There is no way the Tendo girl could be that good. _Cologne yelled to her great-grand daughter "Shampoo, something is wrong, treat her as your most dangerous opponent!"

Shampoo had too many years of training to not listen to her great-grandmother during a battle. She immediately shifted stances, and began a blistering attack on Kasumi. She was amazed as the girl deflected every blow. As the attack continued, Kasumi only showed a calm peaceful face as Shampoo's became flushed with frustration.

Cologne looked over to Ranma, expected to see concern spread across her face. To her horror, she only saw a look of pride! _She...she...is not surprised. She expects her to win! How is this possible, the Tendo girl was not a fighter before, there is now way she could have trained her so well!_

The elder turned back to watch the fight, or rather lack thereof. As she did so she heard Ranma casually state "Kasumi, you have to end this, to prolong it only embarrasses Shampoo." She watched as Kasumi quickly blurred and Shampoo was thrown off the log. It wasn't even a contest.

Cologne watched Kasumi with interest. _Curious, if I didn't know better, I'd say I saw some Amazon moves in Kasumi's blur of motion. I'll have to talk to son-in-law about it later._

If Shampoo had retained consciousness, she would have been wailing about how unfair this was. Instead, she was being carried off as Kasumi jumped from the log and walked over to Ranma and Cologne.

"So Elder, do we have safe passage now?" Kasumi asked.

"Yes, yes, of course." she muttered.

Kasumi continued, "And safe passage implies any penalties or judgments against the members of the parties are null and void, correct?"

_What? No! They can't know of that clause, we don't tell anyone of that clause! _Her eyes squinted with suspicion. "How do you know that?" she hissed.

Ranma glanced around, noting that nobody was standing that near to them. Cologne had been instrumental in their return, so she at least deserved to know the whole story.

"Elder", she started, her eyebrows rose at the proper term. "We owe our existence to your offer of your key, which we obviously made use of to return here."

"Yes, I assumed you must have figured out how to use it and what it gave access to. I'm still not sure how you managed to do all that in such a short time." She looked at both of them. "For that matter, I'm not sure how you managed to last past the first few days..."

Kasumi jumped in. "We survived because Ranma kept the creatures from attacking. He was able to trickle his Ki into the world around us, preventing the things from destroying our world."

Cologne was impressed, it must have taxed the boy to no end!

"As far as doing so much in a short time." Ranma glanced about, double checking that nobody else could hear her. "Our best guess is that we were in that world for over twenty-two years. I don't know why we didn't age, I'll probably never know. But we had plenty of time to study about the Amazons, and to get much, MUCH better."

Cologne blanched at the implications. _That long, that long in the archives? Who knows what they've learned! Even I haven't spent that much time pawing through all that material. Wait, if they were there that long together... _She glanced down at Kasumi's hand, and only then noticed the ring on her finger. Her shoulders slumped in resignation. "Very well, I understand. You can't blame an old woman for trying, can you?"

Ranma gave her a smile different than any she had seen before. It wasn't the smug, self-certain smile she had seen so often. Instead, it was a knowing, comfortable smile, something you would expect out of a friend. "Not at all, not at all. I'd like to thank you again for all of your help, without you, we would have been lost there forever." He bowed to her. "Consider us in your debt, if you every need us, we'll both be there."

It had been a long time since Cologne had actually been touched by someone she respected, and she'd almost forgotten how good it felt. "Thank you, that actually means quite a lot to me."

"Excuse me Ranma, but we'd best leave while we're ahead. With your luck, the longer we stay, the more chance of something going..." she stopped in mid-sentence as she saw Shampoo approach, a look of fury on her face.

"You two think you so smart! Let's see how smart you are when rest of village knows who Ranma really is!" She whipped a small cup of warm water up and splashed Ranma, who shifted to his male form.

Several women following Shampoo witnessed the transformation. #_It is true, he is a male. Maybe she is right and they did cheat somehow# _they muttered.

They were quickly surrounded again, and this time Ranma figured he had to put a stop to things once and for all.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, and let his aura burst forth. A Ki field burst forth and slammed every Amazon but Cologne against the walls of the buildings around them. They were pinned to the walls by the force of the attack, and stared wide-eyed at the apparent display raw display of power.

_Fascinating!_ Cologne thought with a razed eyebrow. _He must have fantastic control to not have included me in the attack. I wonder just how good he has gotten during his...absence._

Ranma turned around, looking at each Amazon against the walls. "This will stop NOW. We used no tricks, only skill. We passed your test fairly, we know the laws better than most of YOU. I have promised our help to the Elder here as a sign of gratitude."

Mousse, who had snuck in behind Shampoo, spat at Ranma, "Saotome you fiend! I'll never give up. You shall be punished for what you have done to my poor Shampoo!"

Ranma whipped around to face Mousse. "What I have done to her? I gave her an out from this stupid Kiss of Marriage/Kiss of Death mess. When Kasumi won our safe passage, she could have let it go, but noooo, she had to have it her way or no way." Ranma glared at both of them.

Shampoo strained against the Ki field Ranma was generating "You is Shampoo/'s husband, it law!"

"I'll never rest Saotome, I'll get you yet!" cried Mousse.

Ranma shook his head with frustration. They were both crazy in their own way. Shampoo for her fanaticism to the rules and Mousse for his blindness. Ranma stepped up to Mousse and hit several pressure points within the blink of an eye. "Mousse, because I never could trust you to not attack me or my family again, I have cut off your access to your hidden weapons, and cut your strength to normal levels. No, this isn't the moxibustion technique, it just makes you a normal person, who can't effectively attack anyone behind their back again."

He stepped back and turned to Shampoo. "You, on the other had, are a little more difficult. Your fanaticism toward some of your rules is...disturbing. Cutting your strength might be considered too...severe. However, I know you place your village's safety highly so maybe this..."

Ranma walked back from Shampoo, and spoke in a loud voice to the rest of the village pinned to the walls around him. "Listen to me, as of right now, I am an ally of the Elder Cologne. Some of you" he glared at Shampoo, "feel that I should be forced to be a part of your village. Perhaps a demonstration is in order to convince you otherwise."

He bent his head forward, with his hands in front of his chest. He didn't call out the attack. He and Kasumi learned long ago that they no longer needed to call out attacks to execute them. The ball of Ki grew between his hands. Instead of growing larger like many expected, it grew brighter and brighter.

Many of those watching were impressed, but the Elders, who could see how much power was held between the boys hands, blanched with apprehension.

Ranma lifted his head up, and launched the energy not at the village, but at a butte overlooking the village. With a terrifying explosion, the butte was vaporized, leaving a semi-circular shape where the blast went through it.

He turned around to view the stunned faces of those around him. "Every day, every time you think you might want to come and...force me...to do something against my will, look at that cliff..and think again! If anybody from this village ever bothers me or my family, I will no longer be an ally of this village, I will be its adversary, and Herb or Saffron will look like a small child compared to me!"

Cologne walked up to him and calmly said "Impressive Ranma, I knew you grew during the time you were gone, but I didn't realize how much. I will speak for the village when I say 'Thank you for your allegiance'. I guarantee Shampoo will not be any more of a problem. And on a personal note" she dropped her voice a notch "thank you for how you handled Shampoo. She won't go against the village, and you had every right to be more severe with her."

Ranma bowed to Cologne. "Thank you. Kasumi has taught me a lot about the...ramifications...of my actions. I think it helps quite a bit, don't you?"

"Indeed! I take it you didn't just study Martial Arts while you were gone? I noticed you were pretty confident with those pressure points on Mousse."

"Nope! Let's just say that you Amazon's have a lot more interesting material than just Martial Arts techniques."

Ranma walked over and knelt low. Cologne wasn't sure what he was going to do, but the last thing she expected was a hug!

"Thank you Cologne." he whispered. "I read what the punishment was for giving away your key to the archives...I'm glad to see they were...understanding. Kasumi and I are here because of the risk you took, I won't forget it."

He stood up, and walked over to Kasumi. "Come on Kasumi, lets go tie up some last loose ends, but first, I want to find a good meal, being a vegetarian all those years wasn't by choice, I'd like a real meal for a change."

"Now that I can help you with Son-in...Ranma. Come with me."

Both Ranma and Kasumi displayed huge smiles at the possibility of a real meal again. Needless to say, the Amazon stores were heavily depleted that afternoon, Kasumi had learned some of the Saotome eating techniques after all that time with Ranma.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Ranma looked at his wife. He was able to acquire a red silk shirt and black pants and Kasumi had kept one of the outfits from the village she liked. The clothes screamed Amazon, but the face, hair and eyes said in a calming voice 'Kasumi'.

"Ready Kas-chan?"

"Of course Ranma, are you ready to face them again?"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I think so. They may have been able to manipulate me once, but that was many years ago, wasn't it?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, it was, wasn't it. I suppose you have changed quite a bit since then."

He thought back about all they had gone through, the years of learning, caring, and even of marriage. Yes, he was without a doubt, the best there was at Martial Arts, but he found that it wasn't as important to him as he once would have thought. He was much more proud of his relationship of Kasumi, and all that they meant to each other.

"Yeah, right again. What about you?"

Kasumi had a puzzled expression on her face. "What do you mean?"

He turned the final corner before coming to the front gate. "I think you might have it as hard as I do when we walk in there. We've talked over the years about how I think they treated you, and I don't think you ever really accepted how bad it was. In case I'm wrong and they surprise me, I won't say more now, but I wouldn't be surprised if they try to do a number on you too."

She walked with him toward the gate wondering what he was getting at.

--

When they opened the door, the first thing that hit them was the odor. It wasn't stomach turning, but it wasn't the fresh clean smell that they had both associated with the home that Kasumi took care of. They looked at each with the same thought _What is that?_

"Hello? Is anybody here?" called Kasumi tentatively.

"Kasumi!" somebody yelled. They heard footsteps thundering down the steps and Nabiki rounded the corner. "Kasumi! You're back! Thank god!"

Nabiki crashed into Kasumi giving her a fierce hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! Where did you go? How did you get back?". Neither Kasumi nor Ranma had ever seen Nabiki this emotional.

"Nabiki, your sister might want to breathe..."

"Sorry!" She released Kasumi. She looked back and forth between the two of them. "How did you get back, Cologne said that it was impossible?"

"Well, you know me, always doing the impossible!" Ranma said with bravado. He got a quick elbow to the ribs from Kasumi. "Be nice" she scolded him.

They walked farther into the house, and Kasumi stopped and looked around. "Wha...what happened to the house?" she stuttered.

To put it simply, the place was a mess. Clothes were tossed on chairs, empty food containers littered the table. As Kasumi walked in farther, she saw that there was a huge pile of old dishes in the sink.

Nabiki, the ice-queen of Nerima, looked slightly embarrassed. "Well...you see...we were still debating over who should take care of the house, what with you gone and everything. We kinda haven't agreed on anyone. Akane tried cooking, and without you around to stop her we were all miserable the first week. Fortunately, she ruined all of the cooking pots and pans, so we've had an excuse to do carry-out ever since. Thank goodness you're back and things can go back to normal!"

Kasumi felt sick to her stomach. She had worked so hard at trying to give everybody a nice home, that when she saw what they had done with it...she wanted to cry.

Ranma saw the change in body language and he knew that Kasumi wasn't taking this well. He turned to Nabiki and said "Man, I can't believe it, not one of you could even try to clean up just a little bit. I knew you took Kasumi for granted, but this is ridiculous." He glared at Nabiki, "and what do you mean about going back to normal? Don't you mean 'back to Kasumi waiting on you hand and foot?'"

"Watch it Saotome." Nabiki was back on familiar ground dealing with Ranma. "It's not like you've ever helped out around the house. I seriously doubt you'd ever help to keep a house up."

He matched her gaze and calmly stated "You might be surprised, Nabiki." He then walked over to Kasumi, and in a quiet voice said "You okay Kas-chan?"

She sniffled a bit, then stood straighter. "Yes, I am. I'm just surprised, that's all. I knew I did the lions share of work around here, but I never thought that they would be so...thoughtless if I couldn't do the work." She reached out and grabbed Ranma's left hand. "Thank you. Thank you for appreciating me, and helping me all this time. I guess I didn't realize how bad I had it after all, you were right."

As luck would have it, Akane decided to come in from the dojo and saw Ranma and Kasumi. "Kasumi! You're okay! Ranma you're back too!" she started toward them when she noticed Ranma holding her sisters hand. "I knew it, I knew you'd try something perverted! How DARE YOU! LET GO OF MY SISTER THIS INSTANT!"

This was the last thing Akane wanted to do. During the time they had been gone, she had tried to come to grips with her affection towards Ranma. She had promised herself that if he ever came back, that she wouldn't jump to conclusions, no matter how suspicious something looked. She also promised to keep her anger in check and not mallet Ranma the first time he did something to upset her. And yet here she was, reaching up for the always available mallet, ready to administer his richly deserved punishment for doing who-knows-what with her sister.

She fought with her emotions for a moment longer, but the anger won out, as it always had. The mallet appeared in her hands, the weight feeling comfortable in her grip. She tensed her stomach muscles and swung the hammer down with all of her might...

...only to have it stopped before it reached Ranma. But not by Ranma, no it was her sister that had stopped the mallet dead in its swing.

"Ka-Ka-Kasumi? What are you doing? I'm just trying to help you!" she blurted. In her surprise, she was wondering why Kasumi was stopping her, instead of how in the world she was stopping her in mid blow. Kasumi didn't even seem to be straining as she held Akane's mallet in check.

Kasumi looked at her and told her firmly. "No little sister, not again, you shall not strike Ranma any more."

"But Kasumi, he was fondling you!" she cried.

Kasumi looked at her sister. Years ago, when she lived here, she tried to see things from Akane's view, tried not to judge her sister too badly. Now, time and experience made it all too apparent that Akane had a few...problems.

"Akane, he was only holding my hand. Can't you tell the difference between that an fondling?"

It was at this time that the other two players arrived. Genma and Soun walked through the front door and saw the two newcomers.

"Waaah! My baby daughter has come home!" Soun as he enveloped Kasumi in yet another hug.

"Boy! You should be dead!" He rushed to Ranma and tried to pull him out of the room. "We need to get you out of here, does anybody know you are here yet."

Ranma had expected most everyone's reactions except this. What was up with his father. "Leggo pops! I'm not going anywhere. What's with you?"

Nabiki held out her hand "5000 yen."

Ranma groaned and just said "Put it on my tab, now what's going on?"

"Well, it seems your father had an insurance policy taken out on you. I guess the fool figured that if he ever killed you in training, he'd still have something to take care of him later. A week after you disappeared he put in the claim."

"You what!"

Genma continued to pull on his arm. "Now boy, a man has to watch out for his future, besides, it's your duty to take care of your aging father..." Genma tried to change the subject. "What matters is that your honor demands you marry Akane now that you have returned. The schools must be joined!"

Ranma shrugged off his father and calmly faced him.

Of the audience, only Nabiki picked up the strange reaction by Ranma, or rather _lack_ of reaction by Ranma. _He isn't rising to the bait? Interesting..._

"Pop, my honor is just fine, in fact it's better than ever. Why can't you just be glad we're back?" he asked.

Kasumi once again took his hand and only nodded in agreement. She was proud of him to not argue with his father right away.

Many eyebrows were raised at the holding of their hands. "Boy, what is the meaning of this, Akane is your fiancée, how dare you show affection to her sister!"

Soun joined in. "Yes, quite right! Akane is your fiancée. What are you doing with Kasumi?"

Ranma held up Kasumi's hand and showed them the ring. He calmly told them, "No, Akane is not my fiancée." He turned to Akane "sorry about this, I would have liked to tell you in a more...controlled environment."

Her face went white as she saw what was on Kasumi's hand. "N-n-n-no!"

"Kasumi is my wife. She has been for some time now" he told her.

"Nonsense, I'm sure its all a big misunderstanding." They turned to Soun who started babbling. "I'm sure we can fix things now that you two are back. Kasumi belongs here with us."

Kasumi noticed the motion first, and whipped around to see Akane bringing the mallet to bear on Ranma again.

"You two-timing pervert!" she screamed. "I knew you would molest my sister!"

She instinctively struck Akane. Akane was trying to hurt her husband, who always had a soft spot for the violent maniac who sometimes passed as her sister. Akane flew back against the wall as Kasumi caught the now owner-less mallet.

"Nice shot Kas-chan." Ranma commented.

"Thanks!" she said. "I told her no more of that. If she thinks being hit is no big deal, then maybe it's time she found out that it hurts."

Everyone else gaped at Akane implanted in the wall. Nabiki was the first to recover. "Whoa, where did that come from" she asked with more than a bit of awe in her voice.

"Let's just say that both Ranma and I did a bit of...growing...while we were gone. I'm not the same Kasumi and he's not the same old Ranma. It would be to your advantage to remember that."

Nabiki quickly nodded her agreement.

"If you'll excuse us, we'll be upstairs settling in." With that comment, Ranma and Kasumi disappeared up the stairs

--

When they came back down, they weren't surprised to see Akane sitting in the corner mumbling about unfaithful perverts. They both ignored her and proceeded to the kitchen. Ranma noted that their fathers seemed to have vacated along with Nabiki.

"Start here?" he asked her as they looked at the mess that used to be Kasumi's kitchen.

"I suppose so" she replied. "I guess get the most painful out of the way first."

They proceeded to attack the mess that their families had left. Once during the cleanup, Kasumi had looked over to Ranma, who was looking at her through a hole in a copper pot. Even though the damage to her equipment was severe, she had to laugh at his puzzled face.

"How in the world?" he asked her through the hole.

"You've got me. If only she'd used her talents for the forces of good..."

Ranma snorted with amusement, and tossed the pot into the growing pile of un-salvageable pots and pans. As he turned back to his area, he saw Kasumi picking up a power drill out of the sink. He almost asked, but decided he knew the answer ahead of time, and continued to paw through the mess in front of him.

Between the two of them it took about an hour to clean up. Ranma said "I notice that nobody came down to help out, did you?"

Kasumi sighed and nodded. "Yes, but I still expected, well hoped that somebody would help out..."

"Yeah, me too. Believe it or not, I thought at least Akane would help out. I guess she was too shook up from your...conversation...earlier." His face brightened and he held out an arm. "Could I escort you to the market fair lady?"

She giggled, and linked her arm in his. "I'd be delighted. I still can't get used to the variety of food we can get again!"

"Yeah, but who knew that after all those years of being an unwilling vegetarian that it would be hard to go back to our old ways. I remember how upset our stomachs were after that first feast at the Amazon village. Still" he smiled at her, "a Martial artists life if filled with peril. Let's go live dangerously and see what the market has for us!"

--

The meal that evening was thankfully uneventful. There were a lot of comments when it was noticed that Ranma was helping Kasumi in the kitchen. Akane was particularly hurt that he was allowed to help her out, while she wasn't. All in all, it was a relatively peaceful time. Both He and Kasumi recounted their experiences in the world of 'Yesterday'. Everyone was particularly entranced with their last days and the creatures they had to contend with.

They avoided talking too much about the episode in the village with the Amazons. On their journey to Japan, they had agreed that the less everyone knew about the Amazons, the better. All they told everybody was that they had appeared at the edge of the village and had left before being noticed.

Ranma knew the peace would come to an abrupt halt soon enough. For as chaotic as Nerima was, the one thing he could always count on was peace never lasting. Once everyone realized where he and Kasumi would be sleeping, the proverbial poop would hit the fan.

Nabiki was the first one to crack. "Well guys, its been a great night, but I'm going to bed."

Genma grunted, then said "Yes, yes, it will be good to be back in the old routine. Be ready for me to wake you up tomorrow for training Ranma. You futon is still in the room, so everything is all set for you."

Ranma squirmed, not wanting to break the quiet mood. Kasumi was the one who decided to enter the fray and liven up the conversation. "Why Uncle Genma, Ranma will be sleeping in my room tonight, and I don't think it would be nice to barge into our room in the morning."

Akane's eye twitched, and Nabiki stopped dead in her tracks halfway up the stairs. She didn't want to miss this little conversation.

"Well, uh, ..." Genma for once was at a loss for words. It was one thing to hear that the two of them were married, it was quite another to think of the...implications.

Soun managed to break the awkward silence. "Yes, I suppose that is quite right. Genma old friend, I would suggest that you wait for Ranma to join you tomorrow."

Genma was not about to change his routine though. "Now see here, the boy must train, or he'll go soft. Your daughter is already a bad influence on him."

A slow smile spread on Ranma's face. "Tell you what Pop. You wait for me to get up tomorrow, and we'll spar. If you think I've slipped, then I'll do whatever training you want. Sound good?"

"Well, I suppose that would be allowed this once. Very well" said his father.

Ranma and Kasumi stood up. "Great, then we'll see you all tomorrow morning" the said, and proceeded past Nabiki up the stairs.

Nabiki was crestfallen. She expected to see some ridiculous display of anger, guilt and posturing. Instead, she saw Ranma skillfully placate his father and avoid an unnecessary confrontation. _Hmm, he sure doesn't act like the old Ranma. They've changed more than people think. I've got to be careful around the two of them until I find out what's up._

She went to her room, ignoring the slightly glowing Akane in the room below. _I could always count on Ranma being the catalyst around here, but I have a feeling he's passed that mantel on to Akane._

_--_

Up in Kasumi's room, the two Saotome's were discussing the day's events.

"So Kas-chan, how do you think it went?"

Kasumi was sitting on the bed, looking at the ceiling. "Not as good as I'd hoped. I'm glad we're back, but I'm not as glad to be _here_ as I thought I'd be."

He knew she meant her home, or rather this house. He had a suspicion that after all they had gone through, they wouldn't fit in as well as they used to, and he was right.

"So, think we'll be able to sleep tonight?" One of the strangest consequences of their banishment to the world of Yesterday was how much they had gotten used to the quiet. Now that they were back with so many people and animals, they both had a hard time getting to sleep at night with all the sounds present again

"Oh, eventually." She grinned at him, "shall we go to our spot? We can talk until we get tired?"

"Sounds good to me!" he said as he opened the window and grabbed hold of the ledge. He swung up and out and flipped onto the roof. He looked back at the ledge and saw Kasumi do the same. The two of them sat on the roof, looked at the stars, and talked to the small hours of the morning before they both got tired enough to go to sleep.

--

Nabiki woke so the smell of coffee wafting up the stairs. _Oh god, I can't believe it, finally I don't have to make my own coffee in the morning any more. Thank you Kasumi!_ She threw on a robe and walked downstairs to hear somebody working in the kitchen. She was surprised to find Ranma in the kitchen and not Kasumi.

"What's going on?" she asked as she watched Ranma chop the ingredients for the Miso soup.

Ranma didn't look up. "Just breakfast" she said.

"Oh-kay. Why are you making breakfast, why are you a girl this morning, and where is Kasumi?"

He looked up from his work, and she flinched at the look on his face. She had never before seen the look of seriousness that appeared on her face. "In no particular order, One: Kasumi is upstairs still asleep. Two: We had a rough night last night and I'm giving her a break. Three: my current state is due to the dew that hit last night. Why?"

Nabiki was not intimidated. "Now look Saotome, what's your problem. Why did you get up so cranky?"

She finally stopped what she was doing to give Nabiki her full attention. "Why? Let's see, your sister, whom you thought was dead, appeared yesterday. You find out she's been alone and on her own for...a while, had to escape from an Amazon village, and traveled all this way to see you people. Do _any_ of you want to actually do anything for her?" He paused, knowing Nabiki had no answer. "Of course not, you expect her to wake up the next morning and go right back to taking care of all of you."

She took a few steps toward the shocked Nabiki and lowered her voice. "Nabiki, you're the smartest one left in this family, you had better figure this out pretty quick. Kasumi's changed, I've changed, and neither one of us is going to put up with this crap anymore."

Ranma turned around and went back to finishing breakfast. "I'm doin' this for Kasumi, and you guys are getting breakfast only because _I_ think it would be rude to ignore you. I'll tell you one thing Nabiki, Kasumi and I watch out for each other, and I'm not lettin' things slide anymore when it comes to her."

Once again, Nabiki took note that Ranma and her sister had changed more than a month would allow. She also noticed the pause when Ranma was telling her how long Kasumi had been gone. Ranma didn't develop that kind of backbone in only a month. She was determined to find out what really happened while they were gone.

--

After breakfast, Genma told Ranma she should change back so they could have their sparring match. Ranma declined saying it didn't matter, she could still whip Genma. "But before we start old man, we're going outside. The one rule today is no property damage."

"Fine" Genma muttered. They walked outside and bowed to each other. "Remember boy, when I win, you must start practicing again."

"Yeah" she grinned. "When you win."

Genma first few attacks were blindingly fast, but Ranma deflected them almost without thought. As Genma bounced off the surrounding rocks and trees, he seemed to bounce off the stationary Ranma, who stood nonchalantly near the pond.

To Akane and Nabiki, it looked like something out of the ending of the first Matrix movie. Ranma absently blocked every attack by Genma, who was getting frustrated at how easily his son was holding him off. "Come on boy, fight me!" he taunted. Try as he may, the older fighter was completely unable to penetrate Ranma's defenses. "Damn it, fight me! He yelled again, getting more and more frustrated with Ranma's advanced abilities.

"Okay old man, you asked for it." In less than a blink of an eye, Genma was flying toward the far wall. Kasumi was the only one who had followed Ranma's attack. To her, it was nothing special. She used no Ki-based moves or advanced Amazon techniques, it was all speed and power. To everyone else, they could see immediately that something was wrong with Genma as he flew back. Instead of the smooth Saotome mastery of aerial combat, he moved like a floating sack of potatoes. It didn't really register on any of them that he was already unconscious until he hit the ground.

Genma hit hard and rolled to a stop. As he lay there motionless, Soun worried that he was more than unconscious. "Ranma, what have you done...your father...?"

"Don't worry Mr. Tendo, when I hit him, I combined it with a few pressure points. He'll be sore, but he'll be fine."

Soun looked from his inert friend to Ranma. "Why, I didn't even see you move! How did you get so good?"

"Feh" she said. "I doubt even Happosai would give me a run for the money, but if luck is with me, I'll see him before too long."

Soun made warding gestures. "Now son, don't invite that on yourself!"

She walked over to her father and grabbed him by the collar. She then proceeded to drag him into the pond to wake him. Within a few moments, some indignant "growfs" emerged from the panda and Ranma tossed him back on the lawn. She waded out of the pond and stared at her father. "Well pops, looks like I get to sleep in now when I want to, unless you'd like to _persuade_ me that I'm wrong again." She cracked her knuckles for added effect.

Her father whipped out a sign, _You win, you win._ He knew the boy had gotten better after Saffron, but his son was now in a completely different league. Even Genma, who had very little common sense, knew that his son was no longer in his class.

"And pop, neither I, nor Kasumi, want to hear anything about weak girls again, got it?"

The panda nodded violently.

"Glad we had this talk pop. I'll see ya later, I got some errands to run." Ranma grabbed his stuff and went inside to get cleaned up.

--

Kasumi had already made it into the furo when Ranma came in.

Kasumi was sitting back against the edge with her eyes closed. "So how did it go with your father. Did you many to convince him that you hadn't lost your touch."

"Hold on Kasumi." Ranma washed the pond water off and then headed to the furo. "Yeah, I think I managed to beat some sense into him. It'll only last for a few days, but maybe that will be enough."

He sighed as he slipped into the hot water. "You know, it's nice, but I still liked the hot springs best." He settled in next to her.

"It was nice wasn't it. No heating the water, no cleaning things, the beautiful sky above. I miss that place Ranma."

"Me too Kasumi, me too." He closed his eyes as well.

"You know, nothing prevents us from seeing if that house if for sale..." she offered.

"I can tell I've been with you for a while. I actually had that same thought before we got here. I have a feeling that once we've tied things up here, it might be worth our while to check that place out. I'm not sure how we'll afford it yet, but I've got an idea or two."

Kasumi smiled. Ranma couldn't see it, but it was a smile that someone had when they had a good secret. "Oh, I'm sure we'll figure out something."

"Yeah, I got a couple of ideas" he agreed. Now that I can check my pop off the list of things to take care of, I can start working on the rest of the list."

She opened her eyes to stare up at the ceiling. "It's still a big list isn't it?"

"Tell me about it. Still, I don't think it'll be that hard. I feel a lot more in control than last time." he said.

Of course that is precisely when one Akane Tendo should waltz into bathroom. Like so long ago, she never thought to check the occupied sign. Both he and Kasumi heard someone come in and turned to see who would be so oblivious to barge in on them.

As Akane closed the door, she turned around to see Kasumi and Ranma in the furo. Even though the rational part of her knew they were married, her jealous streak got the best of her. "Ranma! What are you doing in the furo with my..my..sister! How dare you!" She glowed red and reached for the trusty bringer of pain.

Ranma started to get up when Kasumi grabbed his arm. "No, let me." she whispered to him. "She won't listen to you no matter what."

Kasumi rose from the steaming tub and headed for her robe. The sight of her sister comfortably naked before Ranma threw Akane for a moment, long enough for Kasumi to at least don a robe before turning to confront her angry sister.

"Out of my way Kasumi!" she hissed.

Kasumi stood firm, and launched a quick Ki blast which vaporized Akane's mallet in an instant.

"Wha..what did you do?" Akane was stunned. Did her sister just launch a Ki attack at her?

A dripping Kasumi stared at Akane, who was still standing with her hands raised over her head, holding on to a now non-existent mallet. "Akane, I thought I made it clear that you were not to take out your frustrations on Ranma anymore."

"But he...you...you were both..." she stammered.

Kasumi raised one eyebrow. "Yes?"

"But he shouldn't..." she still couldn't complete her sentence.

"Akane, we are married. We've been married...for a while. Longer than you might think. I love him, he loves me. Beyond that is absolutely none of your business." Kasumi grabbed Akane's arm and walked her over to a bench in the corner of the room. Ranma just sat back and watched his wife try to talk sense into Akane. _Maybe I can get some ideas from her if I have to face Kuno before we leave _he thought.

She sat Akane down, handed her another robe, then joined her on the bench. "Akane, I know this is hard for you, in more ways than one. I know you care for Ranma, and that makes it all the harder." She looked down at her hands, not wanting to meet Akane's watery gaze. "We fell in love, and as much as I didn't want to compete with you, I couldn't ignore my feelings either. When you get mad at Ranma for being with me, you aren't helping me."

"I'm not?"

"No, not only are you hurting me, but you are hurting someone I love more than anything in the world. Ranma still cares for you enough that he won't hit you back."

Akane looked over to Ranma, who didn't interrupt. "He won't, will he?"

"No, he never did, did he? But Akane," she raised her eyes again and looked Akane straight in the eye. "I will. You don't seem to want to listen to reason, and if you won't, I'll break you of the habit. I don't want to, but I will. Ranma has been hurt for too long, and I love him to much to let it continue. He is my husband, your brother-in-law now. You've got to accept it, or you'll lose us both."

Akane didn't break down, but tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. She forced out a broken "I understand big sister...I'll try."

Kasumi smiled and leaned forward to hug Akane. "Thank you. I don't want to lose you, but I'm not going to lose Ranma."

She leaned back, and looked over at her still silent husband. "I think it is about time you worked on your next item on the list, don't you?"

Ranma could tell by the tone in her voice that it was time to leave. "Yup. Akane, close your eyes and I'll be out of hear in a flash...oops, no pun intended."

He raced out of the main area into the dressing room. _Oh boy, another problem hopefully taken care of, now it's off to Tofu's..._

* * *

_Author's Notes: A special thanks to _**Anime-Freak317 **_who had the idea about Genma taking out the inusrance policy. Also, I'd like to thank everyone once again for the great reviews and feedback. Not only does it help because this is my first story, but I always liked a good Ranma/Kasumi matchup, and I'm glad to see that others like it as well. __  
_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Of all the people Ranma figured he would have to deal with, Tofu was the one he dreaded the most. Tofu Ono had always been nice to Ranma, and had always been there when he needed him. The problem was that everybody knew that Tofu had a 'thing' for Kasumi. Nobody ever discussed it with him, so as far as Ranma knew, nobody knew just how serious his affection was.

_Jeez, in some ways it was just yesterday when I was walkin' around asking people for advice about bein' a one-trick-pony. Now here I am, back less than a day, and I'm runnin' around to people again. Course, it has been over twenty years for me, but they're gonna' think I'm pretty strange..._

He arrived during Tofu's lunch break, and he knew from his previous visits that if he went around back, he could get the doctors attention and talk to him in private before his next patient arrived.

The pig-tailed boy knocked at the back door. "Hey Doc, it's me Ranma. I need to talk to you for a minute."

He heard footsteps inside the office, and the back door opened up. "Why hello Ranma, I had heard that you had a bad run in with a scroll."

"Yeah Doc, it was a doozy, but I'm back and I need to talk with you for a couple of minutes if ya have the time."

"Certainly!" he opened the door wider. "Come on in."

Ranma followed him in, and took a seat across from Tofu's desk. _Well, let's start with the easy topic first. If anybody has a right to know the full story, it will be the Doc._

"Doc, what you probably heard about is true, we did have a run in with a magical scroll. What most people don't know, is what happened while we were gone..." He proceeded to tell Tofu of their exploits, with all of the romantic details edited out. He wanted to handle that at the last, just in case Tofu didn't take it very well.

After he was finished, Tofu peppered him with a few technical questions, which ended with. "Yes, but I still don't see how you could supply Ki to the entire world?"

Ranma shrugged, "hey I'm not sure how I did it either. Near as I can tell, all I did was keep enough Ki going that it..." he paused, searching for the right word. "...kind of innoculated the world against the things. Remember, I didn't have to supply Ki to any living animals at all, only the plants and rocks, and then only enough to keep them slipping into that 'gray' state that would have allowed the creatures to come."

Tofu shook his head with amazement. "Still, it must have been a huge drain. I wonder if the control of that much Ki will have any...side effects?

"Haven't noticed any side effects, but let's just say that all those years of training with that load on my system has given me some massive reserves."

"I would imagine so!"

Here was the favor he needed to ask. "Doc, in the time I was in that world, I did a lot of learning, a lot more than I ever thought I'd do. Before I went there I never thought about anything but Martial Arts. Once I was there though, well, lets just say I found I had more to live for than just the Art. Plus, I had access to the entire Amazon archive. I learned a _lot_ about medicine and I found out I was pretty good at it, good enough to want to keep doin' it now that I'm back."

He paused, feeling guilty about asking him this before he told him about Kasumi, but he needed this favor. "I was wondering, do you know anybody who would like to train and certify a young doctor? I was hoping to find something in the Sinanju area near the mountains."

Tofu thought for a bit, then smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do know of a doctor who works in the area. I'm sure if I put in a good word for you, he'd take you on." Tofu frowned and looked at Ranma, "But what about your Martial Arts?"

"Well Doc, I had a lot of years to perfect my Art, and I'm sure I can still learn more, but I'd like to have the Art only be part of my life, not my whole life, if you know what I mean. I think I can do that now."

"Wow. I'm impressed. All right, I'll put in a word with my colleague."

"Thanks Doc, I was kinda surprised at how much I liked the doctor stuff. Kind of balances out the whole Martial Arts thing, but then, I guess you already know about that."

Tofu nodded. "Yes I do. I myself made that decision years ago, and I'm actually pleased to see you doing the same, I know how serious you take your commitments, so I'm sure you'll do quite well."

Ranma squirmed in his seat, he really didn't want to bring up the last topic. "Uh...there is one more thing, and I hope you'll still put in the good word with your friend after I tell you."

"What's that Ranma?"

"Doc, during those years, Kasumi and I got close. Real close."

He could see Tofu tense up, it was subtle, but he was good enough to spot behavior like that.

"How close?" Tofu asked. Ranma could hear the regret and apprehension in the older mans voice.

"Doc, how close would you have gotten with Kasumi if you had been there over twenty years? I'm sorry, and you know I am because I can relate to how much you're not going to like this." He lifted his hand to show him the yellow band on his left hand.

Tofu became rigid, his glasses didn't fog, but Ranma didn't know what to expect yet.

"Look Doc, I know you liked her, heck, of course I know you liked her, who wouldn't! She's the nicest person I know. Once I got to know her, I...felt the same way. We were together a long time, and really got to know each other, it would have been kind of hard to not notice how wonderful she is."

Tofu continued to sit rigidly in his chair for a few minutes. Ranma appeared to be relaxed, but with Tofu's past erratic behavior, he was on his guard just in case Tofu snapped. Finally, a deep sigh escaped his lips and he relaxed back into the chair, his head down toward his chest.

Ranma leaned forward with concern. "Doc, you okay?"

Tofu didn't look up, "No...Yes, I'm okay. When you told me the story, I wondered how you and Kasumi had...gotten along...during all that time." He raised his head, stood up and started walking slowly around the room. "To be honest, I can't blame you Ranma. I would have done the same thing. Were you really there that long? How long have the two of you been...married?"

"For over twenty years, Doc." Ranma hated doing this to the man, but there was no way around it. He felt like he'd betrayed a friend. Unfortunately he respected Doc Tofu too much to tell him anything but the truth, it was the only chance at maintaining some type of friendship.

Tofu sat back down and composed himself. "Then I'm happy for you. I can't say that it doesn't pain me to say it, but at least Kasumi is with somebody that I can respect, and whom I know will treat her as she deserves to be treated. I only have myself to blame for not acting earlier."

Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Doc. I respect you a lot, and I really didn't want to have to tell you about that part of our trip, but I didn't want Kasumi and I to leave without you knowing, it just didn't seem right."

Tofu looked at Ranma with a weary look. "Thank you Ranma. I am grateful you think enough of me to be uncomfortable in your very difficult position, but I appreciate your honesty, it will just take me a little time to accept this development."

They both heard some patients come into the waiting room, lunchtime was over. "Ranma, do you really love her?" he asked.

Ranma met Tofu's gaze unflinchingly. "With all my heart Doc. I'd do anything for her, because she deserves it. I know you know it too. Just remember, this wasn't a quick fling or some strange coincidence. I love her..

Tofu stared back at Ranma and then gave a tired smile. "Okay...good. Don't worry, I'll put in that word to my friend"

"Thanks, thanks a lot" Ranma stood up and left the office, a weary look on his face. The meeting with Tofu had gone as he expected. He always respected the Doc, and he figured he'd handle it well, it just sucked having to tell somebody as nice as Tofu that he'd stolen the girl he liked..

--

_You can do this, you can do this _he chanted to himself. The soul of ice wasn't really appropriate for dealing with Ukyo, after all, she technically was his oldest friend, which made this next visit all the harder. Tofu's visit had gone so well, it gave him a little confidence to face Ukyo. Even though he dreaded talking with Tofu the most, Ukyo was a close second. In general, Ukyo had treated him the best of his own friends and he knew how she felt about him.

"Ranma!" she called as he came through the door. "You're back!" She ran around the counter to the surprised looks of the few customers. She crashed into him at full speed and gave him a terrific hug.

They stood there for a few moments, and Ukyo was surprised that he didn't try to squirm out of her grasp. _Wow! Maybe he did miss me!_ She finally released him and took a step back. "So, did you miss me?" she said, putting in as much cute fiancée as she could into it.

His blue eyes bored into hers. "Yeah Uc-chan, I did miss you, it's been a long time."

She blushed and looked back at the grill. "Well then, can I get you a few Okonamiyaki?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

He walked over to sit at the counter as she started to prepare his order. "So" she asked "anything interesting happen while you were gone?"

He paused for a bit, then answered, "Yeah, quite a bit actually. Went to an abandoned world. Spent a long time getting back. Met some monsters. Escaped some monsters. Battled some Amazons, you know, the usual."

Ukyo rolled her eyes "yeah, sounds like the usual. No really, tell me what happened."

Once again, Ranma recounted his life for the past twenty plus years, and once again, he edited out his romance and marriage to Kasumi, deciding that Ukyo would probably come to it herself, and it would be easier to talk about than if he just announced it and went on.

She sat and listened to his tale, wondering what it would like to be alone with Ranma for so long. As he continued to tell of his adventures, she noted certain pauses in his narration, as if he was considering how to explain something. As these ever so small pauses accumulated, her intuition made her feel more and more worried. When he was done, she finally said. "Uh, Ranma-honey, you leavin' anything out of this story? If what you say is true, how come you don't look any older?

"Yeah, that is kinda strange. See we didn't seem to age where we were sent." He squirmed in his seat and answered in a slightly quieter voice. "But yeah Uc-chan, othere is one thing that I left out, one thing that I really don't want to have to tell you."

"Hold on a sec" she asked as she layered some toppings on her cooking.

He watched her face drop as the implications hit her. Her reflexes took over and she quickly removed the two Okonomiyaki from the grill and set them on some plates. He heard her take a deep breath, or sigh, he wasn't sure which, and she finally said "Let me guess, I'm not the cute fiancée any more, am I?"

In some ways he was impressed with how well she was taking it, but she was after all the only sane fiancée he had before the incident. "I'm sorry Uc-chan, your still my cute friend, but I'm afraid I'm no longer on the market any longer."

She dropped her eyes to the grill and said. "I figured something like this would happen. If it had been anybody but Kasumi that had gone with you, I wouldn't have worried. But I knew...I knew that the only chance of you liking somebody was for them to just be your friend, and be nice to you. I was trying to do that, it was just so damn hard with all those nutcases around..." she stopped as tears began to run down her cheeks.

He reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry Uc-chan, I really am. You're one of the only true friends I have, and I know how you felt."

She smiled at his holding her hand. The tears now tracing routes around her forced grin. "Yeah, well, I guess I should be glad that you at least fell for one of the few nice girls around. I can't say that I feel cheated by losing to Kasumi."

"Thanks. I think she's pretty special too. Look Ukyo, Kasumi's my wife, we've been together for a long time, but I don't want to lose one of the few friends I have. I know you've been...pursuing me...for a while, but I'd like to ask you if you could settle for at least still having me as a friend. It would mean a lot to me...to us actually. I'm sure you'll hear more later, but we don't plan on staying around for much longer. Of all the people we know, you're the only one we're going to let know where we are going. If you'd like, please visit us, heck Kasumi said she had a way of even helpin' you to relocate your restaurant out of this area if you'd like."

He paused then continued. "See, I've had enough time to think, and I've decided that true friends are hard to come by. We'd like to be your friends still if you'd let us."

She felt her emotions tearing her from opposite directions. On the one hand, she was hurt, hurt that she'd finally lost him. On the other hand, when he disappeared with Kasumi, she was the only one smart enough to realize the potential risk. She suspected that Kasumi was fond of Ranma, and the longer they were gone, the more likely that Ranma would see Kasumi for the girl she was. True, she thought they'd only been gone a month, but even a month of uninterrupted time with Ranma would be plenty of time to let romance take hold. She'd steeled herself against the worst, and it looked like she was smart she did.

She looked back into his blue eyes and saw nothing but love, not the kind of love she had hoped for, but love none the less. Ranma definitely cared for her, and she had to make the decision, did she walk away, or did she keep a good friend. She thought back over her life, and realized how few friends and how lonely she was. The young man in front of her had never betrayed her, and had always cared for her, could she really give even a part of that up?

"Ran-chan, why do you do this to me?"

He winced at her words, expected to lose his long time friend.

She saw him wince, and immediately made her decision. The boy cared for her, and as Ranma had said, true friends are hard to come by. "God, you're a baka! Akane was right about that anyway. Fine, let me know where you two love-birds are going, and _maybe _I'll come your way. I guess you still have me for a friend."

Ranma's smile almost split his face. He stood up and walked around the grill, giving Ukyo another hug. "Thanks Uc-chan, I know it's greedy of me, but I'm glad to still have you. Thanks, and come talk to Kasumi about her idea to move your restaurant. She wouldn't give me any details, but she can be pretty sneaky some times!"

Four customers came in the door and interrupted their conversation. Ukyo gave Ranma one last look and said. "Get going, I'll catch up with you two later."

Ranma grinned and walked out the door, pleased that he could still count Ukyo as a friend.

--

He was halfway home from Ukyo's when he heard the traditional "Ranma prepare to die" challenge when he was in front of his favorite ice cream store. He turned around and sure enough, there was Ryoga striding menacingly toward him.

"Ryoga! Hey how's it going?" It was funny, but one of the things that made him realize just how isolated they were in there former world was that not even Ryoga had shown up in all those years.

"I was by the Akane's this morning, and found out that you had married Akane's sister, how dare you do that to poor Akane!" he screamed, and then began glowing his familiar green hue.

"Uh uh, no way, not any more. We are not damaging these people's businesses. Ryoga, this is stopping right now." growled Ranma.

"Let's see you try!" challenged Ryoga as he prepared to launch his Shi-shi hokodan.

Ranma glowed a soft white, as he powered up. As Ryoga screamed out his attack, he saw it only go up a few feet before being reflected back! As it bounced around in a now obvious containment sphere, Ryoga's surprise spoiled his concentration, and the Ki attack pummeled the boy within the sphere. Ranma could see Ryoga's form being tossed around like a leaf in a storm inside the Ki sphere he created to contain Ryoga's attack..

After a few moments, the attack wound down, and a well worn Ryoga was laying on the ground, bruised and bleading in a few places.. Ranma walked over to him and hauled him up, shaking him to help him regain consciousness. "Now look pig-boy, we've gone through a lot, and I don't want to have to hurt you, but I'm not puttin' up with this crap anymore!" He shook him for emphasis.

Ryoga stared wide-eyed at Ranma. _Since when did he get this strong! How did he come up with that defense against my attack!_

"Look, I'll make it really simple for you. I'm married to Kasumi, she's my wife. You can have Akane, she's all yours. She's your problem! Within a couple of days, I'll be gone for good and you can woo her with your pig-charm all you want. But. Don't. Keep. Blaming. Everything. On. Me!" He continued to shake Ryoga with each word. "Got it?"

As usual, Ryoga wouldn't listen to any common sense. "I'll never give up, I'll never let you know any peace."

"Yeah, I figured as much. You and duck-boy." Ranma had thought about how to handle Ryoga long and hard during his absence. He whipped Ryoga around and in a blur began doing something to Ryoga's head. He returned the shampoo and his thermos of warm water to stuff-space and released Ryoga. He then quickly splashed some cold water that he had stashed on himself to trigger his curse. .

Ryoga turned around and looked at Ranma. "Oh hello. Excuse me, I was looking for my home?"

Ranma decided to verify if everything worked. "Is it in Nerima?" she asked.

"Nerima? No, I don't think I've ever been there. I have problems with directions though, so I might have been once."

"Really, you have problems with directions?" she asked in as sweet as tone as she could manage.

Ryoga blushed, "Yes, I have a hard time not getting lost."

"May I?" Ranma stepped forward, indicating that she'd like to touch Ryoga.

"S-s-sure." Ryoga never was good around females.

Ranma touched a few pressure points, and applied some Ki in selected areas. While she was in the village, she had read about this condition and its treatment. Cologne either didn't know about it, or didn't wish to share it.

"There, that should help, I doubt you'll get lost anymore. Now, where do you think your house is?"

Ryoga concentrated then pointed in the right direction. "There, my house is that way! Thank you, thank you." He gushed as he bowed to her and turned toward his house.

The method he used wasn't foolproof, but with the removal of most of his memories since the curse, and taking away his ability to get lost, she figured hse wouldn't see much of the boy any longer. Ranma knew Ryoga's relationship was doomed with Akane, since sooner or later, she would find out about his curse, and her anger would never let her forgive the formerly lost boy. He'd still have to deal with the curse, but two out of three ain't bad. True, he wouldn't have an explanation for the curse, but the slip of paper she stuck in his backpack explained that he had received it in a place called Jusenkyo and explained how the curse worked. The paper went on to say that Ryoga had struck his head shortly after which had caused the bit of amnesia he was experiencing. Not the best story, but it should do. The biggest thing is that he'd no longer have any memory of Ranma and hopefully would never cross paths with him again.

_I'm so glad I found that shampoo at the Amazon village! Three down, three to go... _he thought.

--

Kasumi saw Ranma come in the house. "Hello Ranma, how did things go?"

She slumped down on the couch. "Not bad actually, I managed to take care of Tofu, Ukyo and Ryoga. It was a bit of an eventful morning."

"Wow." Her voice dropped a bit, "so how did Tofu take it?"

"Not bad actually, he has good taste, he likes you..." she tilted her head backwards and gave her a smile. "I asked him about a reference to get trained as a doctor, he may have some ideas."

She came up behind him and massaged his shoulders. "That's great. So what do we have left?"

"Well, I was hopin' to meet up with Happosai, I need to talk to my wacko mother, and we need to talk to Nabiki, but that should probably be last."

"What about school, are you going to talk to them?"

Ranma groaned. "Do I hafta?"

"Well, it would probably help if you really want to work in medicine. I still think you should talk to Miss Hinako, if what we found is correct, you may be able to help her, and she might be more willing to help you."

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Kasumi walked around and sat down next to her husband. "So how are you going to find Happosai?"

"Well" he started, "I figure the first thing is to stay like this until he shows up, and if our parents are right, all we have to do is say his name a lot and he'll show up." She cocked her eyebrow at Kasumi. "Care to go Happosai-fishing with me?"

"Certainly" she giggled.

"Happosai" they said together.

"Happosai"

"Happosai"

"Happosai"

"Happosai"

On the fifth Happosai, the diminutive Martial Artist appeared in the back yard. Ranma and Kasumi both sported ridiculous grins as they looked at each other.

"Well that was easy" Kasumi said, as Ranma rose to meet the ancient Master.

"Ranma-chan! How nice of you to come back, and you've dressed just for me!" he said as he launched himself at Ranma's chest. He was shocked when he came to an abrupt halt with Ranma no longer in front of him. He realized that he was being held by the leg and looked back to see her holding him at arms length.

"Ah ah ah" she scolded the old pervert. "I think we have some business to discuss before pleasure." She flipped him back to the middle of the yard.

Kasumi walked over with some hot water and changed Ranma back to his male form. No sense taking any chances in this battle.

"Ranma my boy, what do you mean?"

"Happosai, I challenge you. If I win, you must allow me to teach Anything Goes."

Happosai thought for a moment. "And if I lose? We've done this before boy, I don't want to waste my time here..."

Kasumi cleared her throat. "If he loses, we both pose for pictures for you."

"B-b-b-both?" It was almost too much for the old fart to handle.

"Yup, but I'm not losin' so I'm not worried about it."

"I get to choose the outfits?"

Both Ranma and Kasumi knew it would lead to this, but they both new that Ranma wasn't about to lose.

"Yes" they both said together.

"In that case, you're on!" The gleam in the old mans eyes gave both of them the willies.

Nobody but Kasumi got to witness the fight of the century that afternoon. Everyone else was gone, and the three of them had the house to themselves. Kasumi thought that in some ways it was a letdown. It actually didn't take very long. Happosai immediately went on the offensive, using every trick and technique he knew to try to end the fight quickly. Ranma blocked each and every one, and the Ki attacks her merely absorbed. After five minutes the old man paused, panting.

"What..what...who are you? You can't be Ranma!" he panted.

"Sure am old man, do you yield, or do I have to hurt one of Nerima's senior citizens?"

With a growl, Happosai launched himself again at Ranma, only to be stopped in mid-air.

"What's this" the old man cried. He struggled but couldn't free himself from the invisible grip.

"That" said Ranma as he calmly walked toward his hovering opponent. "Is my Ki. Impressive, isn't it. I found that once you have enough, you can make it do just about anything you want. Oh I could fight you for real, instead of the spar we just had, but it would _hurt, a LOT"_

Happosai stopped struggling and looked at Ranma. _The boy isn't boasting, he's serious._

"But that wouldn't really accomplish anything, and I'd like to get you to sign my certificate now, not in two to three weeks when you got out of a hospital." He finally stood in front of Happosai and touched his finger to the Masters forehead. "Your choice. Which way do you want to do it."

Happosai struggled and struggled, but he was held in an iron grip. He hadn't lived this long by not recognizing when he was outclassed. "Ranma, I'm not sure how you got so powerful, so quickly, but...I yield."

Ranma lowered him to the ground and released him. Kasumi walked over with the formal documents, and within moments, Ranma was now officially a Master at Anything Goes.

"Well m'boy, seems like my work is done here. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He leaped on to the wall and disappeared over the top.

He walked over and gave Kasumi a kiss, "One more down."

--

He decided that since he had such good luck today, he might as well go for it all and went to school at the end of the day. He'd battled everyone he needed to fight, now it was just a few last things and he and Kasumi could leave with light hearts.

His meeting with Hinako went as expected. Kasumi had found a cure for her condition in the Amazon archives, and had taught Ranma how to administer the pressure points and Ki probes. Once he had cured her of her condition, she was so overjoyed that she was more than happy to agree to administer the test required of each student that showed they had achieved enough knowledge to graduate.

It only took him two hours to breeze through the six hour test, and Miss Hinako was not amazed that he passed with a 97.

"Don't worry Ranma, I'll take care of the paperwork. I'm glad to see you made something of yourself, and thanks again for the cure..."

"No problem Miss Hinako, and thanks for helping me with the paperwork."

--

The night at the Tendo's was abnormally peaceful. Genma was subdued, but Ranma knew he had something still up his sleeve. Akane was moping at the end of the table, and Nabiki had seen enough that she decided to just sit and watch.

"So pop, when is mom coming over?"

"Son, she's coming over tomorrow morning." He mumbled between bites.

"Oh that should be fun" drawled Nabiki. "Why do you want her over Ranma"

"Need to clear things up with her before we..." he stopped suddenly. "Just need to clear things up with her."

"Uh-huh." she said. "Care to explain"

"Nope, not now, but I will when she gets here."

"I can hardly wait..." said a bemused Nabiki.

* * *

_Authors Note: I know, I know, where is the big dramatic fight scene with Happosai? Well, one thing I've learned is that fight scenes are tough to write, and I can't write 'em for spit. Sorry to let you down, but I think Ranma grew so much that even Happosai was outclassed._

_As far as Tofu and Ukyo, I know some of you were hoping for fireworks, but when it comes down to it, I think they are both pretty good people. I'd expect Akane and Shampoo to blow, but somehow I just couldn't see Tofu or Ukyo losing it at this point. Oh neither of them is too happy, but they've got enough class to deal with the pain instead of try to fight Ranma._

_Also, I have to say that I hate Dumbledork (not really!). See, originally this was going to be a single story, cuz this has been hard enough without thinking about having it go on, but he had a pretty good idea for a sequel, and I'm actually considering it although the idea is rather intimidating. I'm not sure that I'll be able to write it, but I'm going to try to leave enough hooks in this one that if I get ambitious, I might try it later on._


	20. Chapter 20

_Authors Notes: Thanks to Drifter950 for an idea that I will incorporate into the next , and I'm sorry to say, probably final chapter in this tale. FTFCHRIS is correct, I suppose I let their final night in 'Yesterday' be a bit on the lackluster side. I actually went back and made a small modification to Ch 16 based on his comment. TFCHRIS is also correct that Kasumi originally did push Ranma away, but like Ranma, she grew through this story as well._

_Even though this fic is almost done, I'm seriously considering doing a sequel. I'll give more details after the next chapter. I like the idea, and I have to admit, I'd like to continue this story with a sequel, only because I've really enjoyed how well Ranma and Kasumi came together._

_As always, thank you very, very much for all the kind reviews. I've said it before and I'll keep on saying it, it has really helped motivate me to try to write the best story I could. When I started this story, the one thing I vowed was that I'd finish it because I hate stopping in the middle of a great story when the author has left it for one reason or another._

**Chapter 20**

The next morning's meal saw a repeat of the day's before routine, only this time Kasumi was in the kitchen making breakfast for Ranma. After the morning meal the real fun began.

"So Pop, when is Mom coming over?"

"She said she'd be here mid-morning. I'm not sure why you seem so eager to see her."

Ranma ignored his father's question. "You sure about that Pop, I wouldn't want to have another...discussion with you?"

Genma made warning signs, "No, no, she'll be here."

"Good. Hey Kasumi wanna spar for a bit before Mom gets here?"

"Certainly Ranma, let me change and I'll join you in the dojo"

Nabiki turned to Akane and her father and whispered. "Now this we gotta see. Kasumi sparring with Ranma?"

"He'd better not hurt my baby!" Soun began to wail.

"Hey Ranma, mind if we watch" Nabiki asked.

"Sure, just stay by the door and you should be all right."

They followed him into the dojo and waited for Kasumi to show. In a few minutes, she came in wearing some Chinese style clothes that fit her well, but let her move with ease.

"Nice outfit sis! I wouldn't have thought it your style, but it actually looks quite good on you. Souvenir from the Amazons?" Nabiki asked.

Kasumi glanced down at her outfit. "Why, thank you Nabiki. These are all we had to wear for a time, and I found I rather liked them. I believe these are silk."

_Yeah, and worth quite a pretty penny I'd guess_ thought Nabiki. "Very nice" she concurred.

Kasumi had a cup of water in her hand which she handed to Ranma. He dunked his hand in the water triggering the change, and re-adjusted his outfit. He turned to their audience. "We alternate, one time with me being male, the next female. Our last spar was with me being male."

"Why is that?" asked Soun.

"With nobody else to spar against, at least this way Kasumi had to learn some variation on her attacks and defense, plus it keeps me in shape as well."

Soun nodded. "Hmm, I see, good idea Ranma. Please continue."

The two girls went to the center of the dojo and took there positions. The three Tendo's expected to see some beginner level sparring with Ranma teaching Kasumi a few moves. Akane had told Nabiki that Kasumi had gotten in a 'lucky shot' the other day, so they didn't expect to see too much. Just the fact that Ranma was sparring with their sister was enough to have them want to watch.

There was no signal from the two women, one moment they were facing each other, the next they were quick blurs within the dojo, only becoming easily visible when they hit a wall or floor to change direction. What they witnessed made Akane and Nabiki sit on the floor, and Soun vow to resume his training after such an inspirational display of skill. The only time the two girls on the mat seemed to be vertical was when they both began. Once they started moving, it was as if gravity was turned off in the dojo. The blur of kicks, thrusts, blocks and blows came from all angles at any time. There was no pause in the combat, it was a continuous flow of energy, with both Ranma and Kasumi bouncing off walls, ceilings and floors and at some time hovering in the air. The cracks of blows made all three of them wince, but they could tell by the smiles on the occasionally glimpsed faces of Ranma and Kasumi that they were both having a great time.

Eventually, Soun sat down with his daughters and stared at the continuing display of the Art that dwarfed anything he had ever witnessed before. Since they were indoors, Ranma and Kasumi had agreed to avoid special techniques and Ki based attacks out of concern for the dojo. Never the less, they were making support beams creak as they continued to bounce off the floor, walls and ceiling.

They continued with the display for over an hour. Akane no longer felt bad that Kasumi had managed to hit her the other day, now she felt bad that she was so hopelessly outclassed by her formerly quiet sister. _It's not fair, he never, ever even started to help me train, and now look at Kasumi..._

Several time during the practice, Nabiki and Akane exchanged looks of disbelief. The two girls and Soun knew that the two of them had to be gone longer than a month. It was hard enough to see how much better Ranma had gotten, but to see Kasumi at this level was beyond belief!

When it was finished, the two fighters stopped in the center of the dojo and bowed to each other, then walked over to the three on the floor. Nabiki noted that neither one of them seemed to be sweating or breathing heavily.

Soun, surprisingly, was the first to speak. "Kasumi, Ranma, never have I seen such a display of skill in my entire life. I'd dare say that even the Master couldn't keep up with the two of you. When Genma and I promised to join the schools, I never thought that I would be so impressed, and so surprised that it was my oldest daughter to do so. It would be my honor to recommend the Master to certify you both."

Ranma grinned and said, "Thanks for the compliment Mr. Tendo, but Happosai has already certified me. I beat him yesterday in a match while everyone was out. Kasumi has the paperwork in our room."

Nabiki had a look of pure horror on her face. She jumped up and shouted. "You what! How could you? Do you know how much I could have made from taking bets on that fight?" She turned to her older sister. "You let him cost us a fortune!"

Ranma just shrugged, and Kasumi said "Sister, the fight wasn't for money, it was for Ranma to have the right to teach Anything Goes."

Nabiki just stood there looking wounded, and Akane's temper was at a medium boil by now. "You jerk! All that time you wouldn't fight with me, and then you go off with my sister and teach her!"

As she reached up over her head, Kasumi cleared her throat and stared at her younger sister. Akane stopped in mid-grab and glared at Kasumi, trying to bluff her way into pounding Ranma once again. Instead of the kind, passive look she used to see in Kasumi, she now saw steely conviction that caused her to slowly lower her arms.

Kasumi relaxed and spoke to her sister. "Thank you Akane. Ranma and I were placed in a unique situation, and I asked him to teach me. It took a long time for me to convince him, her to train me. I'm sure if you had been patient, he would have done the same for you."

Akane could only stare at her sister. "Are you kidding, he's a jerk! He doesn't care for anybody but himself."

Nabiki stood there shaking her head. "Akane, even you know that isn't true. How many times has he helped you out, or some of his other friends. Oh he may be a dumb jock, but he's not a jerk."

Akane was about to respond to Nabiki when they heard Nodoka come into the house.

"Hello. Is anybody here?" They saw Nodoka approaching them, and Ranma quietly groaned to Kasumi.

"Now Ranma" she whispered, "you know you're going to have to do this."

She turned his head and whispered back "Yeah, but it doesn't mean I'm going to like it."

Nodoka came to a halt standing above Nabiki and Akane. She gave a quick disapproving look to Ranma and said "Ranma, it's good to have you back, but why are you...as you are?"

"You mean being a girl? 'Cuz it was my turn to fight Kasumi as a girl, it gives her practice fighting two types of opponents." He knew what was coming, so he might as well not avoid it. "Why?"

"We've talked before about your condition." She made a sour face at the word 'condition'. I know I've accepted this curse, but I don't think you should be so comfortable with it. I'd expect you to try to maintain a proper image as much as you could."

Ranma sighed, he knew he would have to face the same old ghosts when he and Kasumi returned, and this was one of the most unpleasant.

Nodoka noticed the subtle signs of her son's posture becoming more tense, but chose to ignore the warning signs. "Son, how are you going to be the best Martial Artist in the world if you remain a girl? You need to focus on your image if you want people to take you seriously. You may be good, but I fear you are lacking focus..." she frowned at her son turned daughter, and waited for her reply.

Now if Nodoka had just seen the display that Ranma and Kasumi had put on, she would have never uttered those words, but the fact was, she arrived just a few minutes late. Instead, her unthinking analysis crystallized Ranma's understanding of not only what she wanted now, but how she came to this decision. It had been a long time since she thought about the days leading up to their banishment, and now was the time to explain it to everybody.

Ranma looked up at his mother unflinchingly. "Mom, long ago, I realized that I was becoming something I didn't want to be, a One-Trick-Pony". He saw the look of incomprehension shadow her face. "It means somebody who is single-faceted, they only do one thing well, and can't really do anything else." Ranma paused as she sought out the right words. "The worst thing was, I was trapped in a cycle I couldn't break out of. I may have realized that I was too focused on Martial Arts, but the commitments, no the _problems_" she corrected herself " that I had to face every day kept me locked in a trap I couldn't get out of. Oh, I may have realized I had a problem, but it would have taken a miracle and a lot of time to break me free of the vicious cycle I was in." She looked around at everybody. "Kasumi and I weren't sure to tell you how much happened while we were gone. One thing I think you do need to know is that we were gone longer than the month you thought we were gone."

Nabiki arched an eyebrow. "Ranma, I'd believe it may be a bit more than a month, after all, that display that you and Kasumi gave earlier is proof enough, but you couldn't have been gone that long, you don't look any different than you did a month ago."

Kasumi decide to jump in, knowing that Nabiki would be more likely to believe her on this topic. "Nabiki, we were there for over twenty-two years. For some reason we didn't age in that world, but we were there for a very long time."

Ranma could see the look of disbelief on their faces, but continued her explanation. "The miracle that I needed to break me free of this place was that scroll, and the time I needed to get my act together occurred while we were trapped there."

Now the looks of disbelief were replaced by looks of doubt, with a few whispers between some of them.

"That's right" Ranma continued, "we were there a long time, but to you it was only a month. I learned a lot while I was there." She grabbed her wife's hand "Actually, we both learned a lot, but what I learned started the week before I left, and I realized what that week meant while I was gone."

Akane interrupted, "Wait, when you said you were married, I thought you just brainwashed Kasumi the first week, grabbed a ring, and then boom!, you decided you were married."

"Brainwashed?" she said incredulously.

Now Akane was on familiar turf. "Yeah, you know, hypnotized her, found some diabolical potion, something like that. There is no way the Kasumi I knew would have married a pervert like you. She had way too much class to lower herself to your standards. Humph!" She crossed her arms in front of her, waiting for Ranma to deny his pervertedness.

What she didn't expect was for Kasumi to come to his aid. "Akane, it was nothing like that at all. We had been living with each other..."

"WHAT!" they all cried.

Kasumi raised her voice just a bit, but for her it was yelling. "Would you people get control of yourselves! Of course we lived together. There was _nobody_ else! Do you expect I'd live in a house all by myself, with no pets, no noise, just sit there in silence? Ranma was the perfect gentlemen, almost too perfect." She turned to her and smiled. "I thought he'd never come around, I was getting a bit worried."

Ranma's blush said a lot. "Ah, come on Kas-chan, I just didn't want you to think I was some kind of pervert..."

"That you are not." She said, and turned to Akane again. "I have never known a more chivalrous man, no matter which form he was in. You were a fool to mistrust him, and I thank the Kami every day that you did so. As for 'lowering' myself to his level, I have never known a more thoughtful, caring and kind person. I consider it the greatest of honors that he feels the same about me. All he needed was a little trust to bring out his good points"

Nabiki couldn't contain herself any longer, and really didn't want to hear Akane go into another of her rants. "Go on, go on, tell us about the rest. Akane, let them finish!"

Kasumi continued her tale. "Well, it took a while before he ever showed any romance, and he required a lot of encouragement. With time he finally let his feelings show and then one day..."

-- Flashback--

He pulled out the small black felt box and opened it, showing the heart-shaped diamond ring inside. "Kasumi Tendo, will you marry me?"

Kasumi stared at the beautiful ring. Leave it to Ranma to find an unconventional ring that said more about his feelings than words ever did. Ranma didn't know what type of rings most people got, he just picked one that he thought she'd like the most.

Several conflicting emotions surged through her. On the one hand, she wasn't that surprised. She'd been hoping for this moment for quite a long time. Her stay with Ranma had shown her that he was a wonderful person, full of life and excitement. Whether they stayed here or returned didn't matter to her, she'd be happy anyplace if it was with Ranma.

On the other hand, she was overjoyed that he'd come to make this decision. Unlike his earlier life, where people were constantly driving him and coercing him and his decisions, in this world, she knew he made this decision on his own. She had always been careful to not push him into this path, if he did this, she wanted to know that it was all his idea. The fact that he'd done so meant so much to her.

She reached down and took the ring. "Yes Ranma, I'd be honored to be your wife." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. When they came up a few moments later, Kasumi said "Tradition has it that you put the ring on my finger."

"Oh" he quickly said. "I'm sorry." He took the ring from her and placed it on her finger.

She looked down at the sparkling ring, and then back at her fiancée. "Does this mean I'm now part of the fiancée brigade?" she laughed.

Ranma quickly grew serious. "Bite your tongue Kasumi. They aren't and never could be in your league. What happened before was due to my ignorance, but that won't happen again. You are my one and only, my first true fiancée. You are the only girl I have ever asked to marry me, and you'll be the only one I'll ever ask."

Kasumi glowed with the praise. Before their time here, Ranma would have never been able to be so open and honest about his feelings. She knew what Ranma had been through, and knew how much the words meant. "Then once again, I accept. I'll be your first true fiancée, and I'll be your wife. I couldn't be any prouder to be Kasumi Saotome."

-- End Flashback --

"...and that's how we became engaged." Kasumi finished. "We got married nine months later."

"Wait!" said Akane, "who married you?"

"Well nobody actually, we kind of married each other" Kasumi responded. "It seemed the right thing to do. We wanted to be married before...other things...occurred."

"Wow" Nabiki breathed. She turned and punched Ranma in the arm. "Not bad Saotome, didn't think you had that kind of class in you. Not bad at all."

Akane had grown extremely quiet as the reality of the situation had set in. Ranma had finally chosen, and it wasn't her. She hadn't tricked her sister, they'd actually fallen in love.

Ranma wanted to get things back on track. "The point is, I've been gone a long time, and I've had a lot of time to think things out."

She turned to Soun. "Mr. Tendo. I feel I have fulfilled the promise that my father made for me so long ago. The schools have been joined."

She heard her father start to dance behind him and quickly added. "However, I should let you know that Kasumi and I are not planning on staying here. Nerima is not our home any longer, it hasn't been for a long time, and aren't planning on staying here for much longer. If we stay, not only will the Nerima madness start up, but every Martial Artist wanting to make a name for themselves will show up wanting to fight, and I don't want that kind of madness anymore. I want to start a new life with Kasumi, Akane and whoever she chooses can have the dojo."

There was a shocked silence all around. Ranma and Kasumi not staying? Ranma not wanting the dojo?

Ranma's mother was the first to step in, and promptly inserted her foot in her mouth, possibly proving that the Saotome foot-in-mouth disease wasn't just from Genma's side of the family. "Ranma, I understand from your father that you and Akane were promised to be married, and that you would take over the dojo. Your attitude is most un-manly about this, and I suspect that Kasumi may be an unwelcome influence on you. It seems you are shirking your original responsibilities, and it also seems like you are accepting this curse you have far too easily. First, I demand you change back this instant! Second, since you don't have any marriage papers, the marriage didn't legally take place, and you can still marry Akane as you are obligated to do."

Kasumi could feel the chill emanate from her husband's arm. She knew she was using the Soul of Ice technique to keep her anger in check. She had a hunch it wouldn't work...

"ENOUGH!" she yelled. When she did so he used an Amazon technique to put Ki into her voice that made the listeners have little choice but to follow his instructions. Even her mother cringed at the outburst.

She glared at her mother. "Mother" she began. "I am as old as you are, and I dare say much better informed that you are. It's very simple really, Kasumi is my wife! I make my decisions, and I am leaving, and none of your or pop's dreamed up honor claims mean squat to me!"

"Now son, you don't know what you're saying. The Art is your life, you don't want to walk away from having a dojo at this point." Genma saw his retirement plan continuing to crumble. It was bad enough that the insurance companies had demanded their payments back once word got around that Ranma hadn't died, but now his plan of living off his son and the Tendo's was vaporizing as well.

"Quiet!" she shouted again. "I'm not saying I don't care about Martial Arts, I do. It's just that I have more to live for than just that." She looked at Kasumi. "I have her. She's the most important thing, and because of her I have many things that give me pleasure. I like to cook, I like medicine, I like working with wood, I like to go on walks for no reason, and yes, I still like Martial Arts, but the Art doesn't drive my life anymore, I control it. I don't need to wander the earth looking for any more Martial Arts techniques, I know enough to last me my lifetime, I want to have a life with my wife now, and I'm not sure what comes next, but WE" she squeezed Kasumi's hand for emphasis. "will decide, not you, not mom, only us."

"Ranma, you will not talk to me that way..." Nodoka began.

Ranma cut her off. "Mom, I said it before, it is very simple. You get to choose, accept me as I am or leave me alone. You get to choose, but you don't get to control. I'm not anybody's puppet, or plaything" she glanced at Nabiki and Akane "anymore."

He looked to see if anybody was going to try to argue anymore. On hearing silence, she decided she'd add a second tirade. "And another thing, I'm not the only one that was treated poorly around here, Kasumi's not takin' it anymore either. We'll pull our weight around here until we leave, but she isn't your maid and cook. She won't take it, and I'm not lettin' her take it any longer. NONE of you deserve her! Hell, all any of you cared about was that once she came back your free maid and cook service would begin again."

Soun started to argue. "Now see here Ranma, Kasumi was just taking care of the house, she is the oldest after all."

Ranma whipped around to face Soun. "Look, I respect you for raising your daughters without your wife, and you did manage to produce Kasumi, but Mr. Tendo, you all slacked off and let Kasumi here do all the work around this house. Oh sure, it let you have fun with Pop, Nabiki and Akane could have fun at school, but where was Kasumi going? Nowhere! It would have meant that each of you would have had to help out more, and that just wasn't going to happen was it?" There were several uncomfortable movements from the audience, but nobody disagreed.

"Look, we're still you family, but we're not the same people we used to be. If you treat us poorly, we're going to tell you to take off! We both learned so much while we were gone, there isn't going back to the way things were. I've taken care of most of the loose ends, and you guys are the last threads. It's your decision."

She turned to Kasumi and said "Come on Kasumi, lets go for a walk, I've had enough of this for a while."

They turned and left the dojo, leaving a stunned set of family behind them.

--

After Ranma and Kasumi left, Nabiki was the one to break the silence.

"Well, I've seen enough. I believe 'em. I don't think they've told us everything that happened there, but I think what she said is true, our little Ranma and Kasumi have grown up."

"Nonsense, they are just confused, we need to just straighten things out." started Genma.

"Are you really that big of a fool?" Nabiki hissed.

"Nabiki, I don't think that is a proper for you to address my husband" Nodoka interrupted.

Nabiki turned to Nodoka. "Your husband is a fool, I've known if ever since I met the man. The only thing he's done right is somehow, someway raised a kid that's worth a thousand times what he is. The problem is, that kid grew up all of a sudden, and he's not going to be bossed around anymore."

"I'm sure my son is just confused after his ordeal." Nodoka replied.

"If you believe that, then you're as big a fool as he is." She quipped.

"Nabiki!" Soun said. "How dare you talk to them that way!"

She looked at her father, and a weariness set in. "Daddy, you'd better accept that things have changed, a lot. Kasumi is going. Ranma is going. Sister here is going to want to cook, much of my income will be lost. Most of you will blame Ranma, and in some way I'm obviously not too happy about it, but in general, I'm proud of the boy, and Kasumi too, for growing one hell of a backbone. You guys can live in denial, but I'm not going to." She also left the dojo, leaving only Akane with the adults.

Akane finally stood up, and quietly walked back to her room, leaving the parents to babble amongst themselves. _They'll never accept their decision _she thought. _They'll argue all night long and convince themselves that they are right and Ranma is to blame. Kasumi said they fell in love... I may not trust Ranma, but Kasumi has never lied to me. I guess I got what I often wished for, I guess Ranma will finally just leave me alone._ She slowly made her way upstairs and closed her door.

--

Ranma and Kasumi returned from their walk full and happy. After their walk around town, the two went back up to her room to talk.

"So Kasumi, how do you think it went?"

Kasumi bit her lower lip, then spoke. "About as well as we could expect. Aren't you glad I made you practice?"

"Yeah, you were right. We couldn't just schedule a confrontation like that, we just had to be ready for it." He sat down on the bed next to her. "There was no way I could have done that without your help."

"Well thanks", she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You know that without clubbing them over the heads with it, they would never accept us as we are. They would have just tried to force us back into our old roles and then they would have hounded us forever."

"Yeah, I just hope Mom and Pops can get their act together. I'd hate to have to walk away from them, but I'll be dammed if they don't accept us for what we are now. I'm not my father's pawn anymore!" he growled.

"Ranma, I'm proud of you. You never would have made a tough decision like this before and dealt with the consequences. Lucky for me, you couldn't do it with the fiancées and look where it got you. Sometimes, you just can't please everybody no matter how hard you try, and when you still try, you just hurt everyone."

"Thanks Kasumi, you're right as always" he said.

Kasumi propped herself up on one arm. "So who else do we have to talk to before we leave? Are you going to talk with that Kuno boy?"

Now it was Ranma's turn to plop down on the bed. "You know, I've given it a lot of thought. Cleaning up this mess is a lot of work, but it's worth it for the people I care about one way or another. Kuno and his sister are a different story. They are as wacky as Shampoo and Mousse, and I know that no matter what I tell them, they'll forget about it the next day. It's just a waste of time and I'll only get frustrated. I think our best course of action is to just leave 'em here and be done with 'em. If they become a problem later on, we'll deal with them then."

Kasumi leaned back down and lay against Ranma's side, snuggling up into his arm. "You are probably right, you never had any luck with them before, I doubt it will be different now. I suppose that just leaves Nabiki. Do we talk to her tomorrow then?"

He groaned. "I suppose so, I'm still worried about her. I'm glad you're handling that one."

She flopped back on the bed. "Don't worry, I can take care of Nabiki. I always have..."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The next morning, while they were just starting to pack some of Kasumi's things, the door opened and Nabiki walked in.

Kasumi glanced up at her sister. "Yes Nabiki?"

"You two really aren't the same, you really have changed."

They said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"I just wanted to say that I'm happy for the both of you. Kasumi, nobody deserved it more than you. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to admit it."

Ranma smiled at Nabiki. To him, it's been over twenty years since he had to deal with her, and he had mellowed quite a bit during that absense. "Hey, no big deal. It both of us a while to realize what a rut we were both in. Heck, if it hadn't been for you and that One-trick-pony stuff, who knows how I would have handled that mess. Talking with you got me thinking about a lot of stuff before that stupid scroll, and I think it planted some good seeds that matured during our...vacation. Because of the people I talked to before that whole mess happened, I think I was in the right frame of mind to change for the better, instead of continuing to obsess about only Martial Arts."

"Oh-kay. I'm not sure what you are talking about...exactly, but it sounds like you are both doing well. I just wanted to say good luck before you leave. You guys really are leaving, aren't you?"

Kasumi motioned for Nabiki to come join her sitting on the bed. "Yes Nabiki we are. But before we go, we'd like your help with something"

She plopped down next to her sister. "With what?"

"We need some financial advice."

Now Nabiki was in more comfortable turf. A confident look appeared on Nabiki's face. "Ah then you've come to the right place. What can I do for you, for a commission of course."

"Of course" Kasumi agreed. "Nabiki, I want your word that what I'm about to show will stay between us. Nobody else is to know."

Nabiki squirmed. _If I make the promise to Kasumi, I won't break my word, but whatever it is, I'm sure it's big, I could make big bucks on this._ She thought more, and then finally said "agreed".

Kasumi's gaze bored into her sister. "I mean it Nabiki, not the slightest word about this to anybody. I'm placing a lot of trust in you, please don't disappoint me." Kasumi shifted on the bed and told Nabiki "move over there" and proceeded to reach into her sleeves. Nabiki's eyes bulged in their sockets as Kasumi started dropping gemstones and jewelry on the bed between them.

Nabiki started to literally drool as she appraised the stash in front of her. "Wha...where...how..."

After a few moments, Kasumi stopped adding to the pile. Ranma sat in the corner also gawking at the display of wealth in front of him. "Kasumi, is that what I think it is?"

A knowing smile appeared on his wife's face. "Well, I figured we weren't stealing them from anybody, after all, the Amazon's still have all the originals, these are just...souvenirs from our trip."

Ranma rolled his eyes upwards. One thing he found out about Kasumi during their marriage, she could be quite practical some times. The more he thought of it though, the more he wished he'd thought of the same thing.

Nabiki shook her head and finally managed to utter a coherent word or two. "Are. These. Yours?"

Her sister nodded her head.

"Do. You. Know. How. Much. These. Are. Worth?

Again her sister nodded, only this time in the negative. "That's why we need your help. Ranma and I may be skilled in many things, but we don't know how to sell things and how to deal with people. We'd like you to be our...agent."

Nabiki could not tear her eyes from the jewels in front of her. There were diamonds as big as robin's eggs. Jewels the color of the rainbow, all cut, all seemingly flawless.

"Fifty percent!" she blurted.

"Five" said Ranma.

"Forty!"

"Five"

"Thirty?"

"Five"

"Twenty?"

"Ten, and you get to pick one for yourself, one for the family fund, and one for Akane's college fund." He offered.

She looked at the stash. Ten percent of this would probably take her through college and get her started in any business she wanted, plus buy a house...

"Plus, you can keep ten percent of whatever you make for us by investing our part. We'd like to do something with the money, something for others, but we're not sure yet. We'd like your help." Kasumi added.

Nabiki finally tore her eyes from the jewels on the bed and looked at her sister. "But why me? I may know a few things about making money, but this is in a whole new league."

"Two things." Her sister replied. "One I love you, and I trust you. One thing you've always done is take care of the family. I know we held you back, and I know you would eventually go, but with this, I can thank you properly and maybe keep you nearer to me as time goes by. Those should be enough to pay off bills and get you and Akane through college. I know you won't let Daddy con you out of them, so they'll be safe until you can use them." Kasumi winked at Ranma, who just smiled back at her.

Nabiki gave Kasumi a big hug, then paused, and gave the same to Ranma. "Thank you, both of you. Wow!" she looked again at the glittering gems on the bed and selected three from the pile. "You really mean it?"

"Yes" they both replied in unison.

"Nabiki." Ranma said..

"Yes?"

"Don't get greedy. I know what you wanted in life, and this may help you get there, but if you get greedy, I give you my word that you will regret it."

Nabiki looked up at Ranma and saw the threat in his eyes. This wasn't small time anymore, and she could tell that he meant every word he said.

It was Kasumi's turn. "Nabiki?"

"Yes Kasumi?"

"We are putting a great deal of trust in you. Please don't disappoint us."

"I won't big sister, I won't" Nabiki slowly walked out of the room, never again taking her eyes off the jewels in her hand.

Once she left, Ranma looked at his wife and said. "You only showed her a small part of what you have, didn't you?"

Kasumi blinked. "Why Ranma, why would you say that?"

He leaned down and gave her a kiss. "Because I know you, and even though nobody would believe me, you can be sneakier than Nabiki. You may trust her, but I know how big of a stash the Amazon's had, and I'm betting you packed it all."

Kasumi stood up and walked over to her husband, putting her arms around him. "Well, I might have a few more items, it just seemed that we might be able to do a lot of good with those jewels. There are plenty of good causes that could use some help, and once we watch Nabiki sell the first batch, we should be able to decide whether we should really trust her with it all or just learn from her and do it ourselves. I may love my sister, I may trust my sister, but even I don't know how she'll handle this, and I'm not risking everything I have...yet."

"You know, Shampoo used to call you the too-too-nice girl. She was right, but she only brushed the surface."

"Well" she whispered into his ear. "We girls have to have some secrets..."

--

Two days later, Ranma and Kasumi came down the stairs, ready to leave the dojo. They had considered sneaking out during the night, but decided that confronting any final issues would be best in the long run.

As they came down the stairs, they were relieved to see only two people standing. Akane, Nabiki and Soun were sitting off to the side, already having resolved their differences with the couple.

Akane was still a bit moody, but had at least accepted that Ranma had made his decision on who he was to be with, and at least it was somebody that Akane could respect.

Nabiki was positively glowing. She'd had only a few of the jewels appraised and their value had been more than she could have hoped. No longer would she have to scrape together cash with small information/blackmail operations, she could go legit and try to really make something of herself. It was a dream come true for her.

On the couch, Soun seemed relatively stable. No waterworks, no crying about his poor baby. Yesterday he had a long talk with his oldest daughter and it seemed to do him a world of good. He actually seemed happy today.

Ah, but the two adults standing were the two real problems. They hadn't seen much of the elder Saotomes, and it was Ranma's guess that they had been whipping themselves up preparing for this final confrontation.

He really didn't want to have to deal with his parents like this, but he knew it would be a matter of him leading his life, or them trying to. "Mom. Pop. I guess we're ready to go."

His father led the verbal assault. "So, is my ungrateful son still slinking off from his responsibilities like some kind of a weak girl? Have you no shame! Stop this nonsense at once, or I'll be forced to make you stop."

Ranma let out a long low exhale. "Pop, we've already been over this. You can't stop me, and we're not staying here. Once we settle in maybe we'll let you know where we are, but we'd like a chance to make a life of our own first."

"Son, are you sure this is what you want to do?" Nodoka seemed unsure about how to treat her rebellious son. In the last few days she had been at a constant war with herself. On the one hand, she wanted her son to fulfill his duties, on the other hand, she didn't want to lose him again.

He looked into her eyes and answered. "Yes, Mom, more than I've ever been sure of anything. It's what I want, no, need to do. I'd like to have you on my side, but that doesn't mean I have to."

Nodoka face revealed the turmoil that was going on within her mind. It finally hit her that a man among men would do what he thought was right regardless of what those thought around him. She had come to believe that if she tried to force him, he'd just walk off and start over with a new name. He was in charge of the situation, and wasn't that what she'd always wanted from him? All of Genma's words haunted her, but she looked at her son, and his wife, and knew that she would be proud to call him her son. Not for the Martial Arts skills, but for who he was.

Ranma saw a smile creep onto her face, and then a subtle nod of approval. _Yes! At least my mother is with us, that was as best as I could have hoped for!_

Genma saw her movement and was furious. "Nodoka, you weak willed woman! How dare you side with your son! His place is here, taking care of me!"

Ranma slowly turned and looked at his father, who realized he may have said a bit too much. "Pop, I've always given you the benefit of the doubt, but you've just proved me wrong. I sometimes worried I was just your meal ticket, but you never really came out and said so, until now."

"Now son, it's your duty to take care of your father in his old age..."

"Pop, I'll never let you starve, but I'll be dammed if I'll be your puppet! Move aside, Kasumi and I are leaving. I promise you, if you fight me now you won't be welcome in my home in the future. It's time you realized I've got my own life now"

Genma took a ready stance and foolishly decided to try to stop Ranma. His usual flawed thinking had convinced him that Ranma had gotten in a lucky shot the other day.

Ranma sighed watching his father once again try to force his will upon him. The last time Ranma fought his father, he used no Ki based attacks. This time he didn't want to play around anymore, he cupped his hands and an intense Moko Takabisha slammed into his father and took him through the wall, across the street, and into the next building. Fortunately, the business he struck was a masonry company that had recently relocated to Nerima, seems there was a lot of business in these parts. Everyone watched to see if Genma would get up, but he was out cold.

"Coming Kas-chan?" Ranma asked.

"Where are you going?" asked Soun. He was no longer looking at his disabled friend and was now giving Kasumi a watery gaze.

"We have an idea, but we're not going to tell anybody until we get settled in. Once we do, we'll let you know."

Nabiki finally spoke up. "Remember what I told the two of you yesterday. Kasumi will need to keep everything in her name until you two can get married without needing your families permission, then you can put it in both your names."

"That won't be necessary" added Nodoka. "I will sign any documents they need to have the marriage made official. Genma never was the clan leader, I always was."

"Thanks mom!"

--

They knocked on the door of the cabin in the mountains they had lived in so many years ago. An elderly gentleman answered the door.

"Pardon us sir." Asked Kasumi. They had decided that nobody could refuse an offer from Kasumi.

"Yes" he asked the young couple standing before him.

"We were wondering if you would be willing to sell us your home."

"My house? Oh no, we're getting old and can't afford a new place. Not that we wouldn't like one, but this has been our home for many years."

A few minutes later, the old man had to sit down after they finished their offer for his home. The two young people had not only bought the house with an outrageously good offer, but for some reason they were interested in the furniture as well. With the money they had promised, he and his wife could get a fabulous house near their children a few towns away.

As Ranma and Kasumi walked back out the front door, Ranma turned to her and asked "So, bring back any good memories?"

"Oh Ranma, it is wonderful, I couldn't ask for a better place to live, it brings back so many good memories!"

"Yeah, who would have thought we'd be back here again..."

--

One month later, Ranma and Kasumi had moved into the house that had been their first true home. The neighbors were surprised to see such a young couple move in, but were quickly calmed when they met the two, and eagerly welcomed them into their community.

They were holding hands as they walked through the door, Ranma turned to his wife and said "we're home Kasumi. More so than when we went to your families house, we're really home."

She spun around in the center of the room, a huge smile on her face. She stopped, faced Ranma, and proceeded to give him a huge kiss. When they finally came up for air she said "I know of told you before, but thank you. Thank you so much for giving me such a wonderful life, and now we get to try it again!"

"You're welcome Kasumi. Nobody deserves it more than you." He walked over to the chair by the fireplace and sat down. "So, any news from Nabiki yet?"

Kasumi came over and arranged herself on his lap, snuggling in next to him. "Let's just say, even Nabiki is overwhelmed with the amount of money that those first jewels represented. She was a little miffed that we spent so much on this house. She said 'It isn't worth that much, why do you want it so badly?', but I didn't budge and she sent the money."

"I still feel bad that I didn't think of that too. Oh I grabbed a few things, but I never thought about the money aspect."

"Well, when you ran a house for as long as I did, you realize that having a nice cash reserve makes for a better life. It won't buy us happiness, but it'll make it a lot easier to come by."

That night, they recreated their honeymoon night as best they could, and once again made the small cabin their home.

Late that evening, Kasumi woke up in the middle of the night, hearing Ranma toss and turn next to her. As she woke up, she heard him mutter "cold, so cold. Can't let it happen, just can't" and then slip into more unintelligible mutterings. "Ranma, wake up." she said as she rocked is shoulder.

Ranma's eyes came open, and they focused on Kasumi above him. "Whoa, that was a bad dream."

"What happened, more about the creatures?"

"No, not at all, in fact I've never dreamed once about those stupid things since we've left. No this one was different. Weird. It was this place, but it wasn't this place. Everything was frozen, and everyone seemed to be gone. Not gone like the last place, gone like in perished in the cold. I don't remember much else about it, only..." he stopped, and tried to remember more details about the dream. "Only...I think there were some people alive, some girls in stupid outfits. But I can't remember anymore."

Kasumi lowered herself next to her husband. "If it's girls in strange outfits, you know how I like to play those kind of games" she chuckled to he spouse as she snuggled in next to him.

"I know, I know" _Sheesh, who knew that of all the people in the house, it seemed like Kasumi turned out the be the most hentaii of the bunch, not that I can complain_ he thought to himself as he went back to sleep with his wife.

--

Their first child, a girl named Ranko, was born nine months later. She would be the first of three that the young couple would have.

Three months after that, Ukyo finally agreed to move her restaurant to their town. Under the guise of an investment, Kasumi had given Ukyo enough money to open a new beautiful business that quickly thrived in the mountain town. When she relocated her business, she was amazed at how much Kasumi and Ranma helped not only with the construction, but with the menu planning as well. Between her Okonamiyaki and Kasumi's dishes, the place was the most sought after dining location for miles around.

Ranma got his wish with Ukyo, as she accepted her role as sister and beloved friend. He was somewhat distressed that she didn't seem to pursue any romantic interests, but instead preferred her cooking and Ranma and Kasumi's company to any new love interests. Konatsu was still around helping out at the restaurant, but nothing came of the relationship between he and Ukyo.

--

As the years went by, everybody loved the family that had moved into the cabin near the hot springs. They were somewhat surprised that they seemed to be able to afford the neighboring houses that they consistently bought as they became available. Eventually, they named the area the Saotome compound, after the large collection of living spaces and the large dojo that was built.

Most were quite happy when it turned out that both of them were in the medical field. Their knowledge of alternate medicines was outstanding, and they often had visitors that traveled for days to see the brilliant young couple.

Even though there was an occasional car bearing the company name, none of their neighbors knew that the couple were in any way associated with 22-NICE enterprises. Oh, many people had heard about the charitable organization that had been organized a few years before, and most had seen pictures of the CEO, a young Nabiki Tendo. Of course, Ms. Tendo always pronounced the name of the company "Twenty-Two Neese", that little inside joke was between her, Ranma, Kasumi and maybe Shampoo, wherever she might be. Ranma and Kasumi were quite pleased that Nabiki had done so well with the initial investment and decided to trust Nabiki with the rest of their _souvenirs_. Nabiki herself had found that she liked the mix power and responsibility that was associated with running such a huge charitable organization. The fact that she no longer had to scrounge for money actually brought out the best in her, and she seemed to be quite happy with life. Nobody but Nabiki knew how much input her sister and brother-in-law had in guiding the business.

Besides the medical practice, the Saotome dojo was quickly considered the best in the country. It didn't mass produce students, but for the few who were accepted, the teachings of Ranma and Kasumi Saotome made the students the best of the best.

Both Ranma and Kasumi experienced occasional dreams of a frozen future. They agreed that it seemed a long time away, and they both felt that it was more a feeling of a possible disaster as opposed to a definite problem.

"So do we do anything about it" Kasumi once asked.

"You know, I've been thinking about that. I'm not sure, but if we decide that the probability of it becoming real is too high, we may have to look into it. Problem is, my gut tells me that when we do, we may have a little too much excitement on our hands again. I say let's just keep an eye on it for now."

Kasumi nodded her head in agreement. "Sounds good to me."

--

Fourteen years had passed since Ranma and Kasumi had moved to their house. All was going well for the couple, in fact too well. It seemed that Ranma had finished growing, but had seemed to stop aging beyond that, with Kasumi doing the same. Neither had an explanation, but both suspected that it was due to their experience with the world of yesterday. It only became awkward as their children got older, and were sometimes regarded as brothers or sisters to the couple. Every once in a while, the Saotome's were visited by Ranma's sister, Ranko, whom his first child was named after. None of the neighbors ever noticed that Ranma never seemed to be around when Auntie Ranko came to call.

On one fall afternoon, the two of them had traveled back to Nerima to visit Ranma's mother. One of the unfortunate outcomes of their departure was the divorce of Nodoka and Genma Saotome. Genma was so incensed by his son's actions that he left the two of them to find somebody who would appreciate him. Since then, Nodoka had thanked the gods that she had sided with her son, who she became very proud of. After the visit, they had decided to sit in the park for a bit before heading home.

They sat on a bench, with Ranma's arm around Kasumi's shoulder, and watched the various families play in the park on the beautiful park day.

They noticed a young man sitting on the bench by himself. The boy was looking around the park, observing the people gathered there. His gaze finally came to rest on Ranma and Kasumi and he stood up and walked over to them.

"Good afternoon" the young man said.

"Good afternoon. Can we help you?" said Kasumi. She looked up at the young boy and could tell something was bothering him.

"Ma'am, would you mind if I asked you about something personal?" he started. "Not that personal! It's just that I don't really have anybody else that I could talk to, and you two seemed so happy, that I thought I could get some advice from you".

"Certainly!" Ranma beamed. "What can we do for you?"

"I've been talking with a friend, who gave me some good advice. I told her that I was frustrated that my life was so focused on being the best about something, that I realized that I might be missing out on something by being so focused. She suggested that I talk to some people that seemed happy with their lives, and to see if they could give me some ideas. I just thought you too seemed to look so happy together that..."

"We might be able to tell you why we were so happy?" said the woman with a smile.

"Have a seat young man, have we got a story to tell you..."

-- End --

_Authors Note: Well, I kept my word and finished this story. Yes, I know it may not be perfect, and if I had to do it again I would probably make some minor enhancements. I hope you enjoyed it, although based on the reviews, I believe you did. As I've said in my profile which I've finally updated, this was my first fanfic, and if I did well, it was because I've read so many great stories in this forum over the years and I think some of it rubbed off on me. (Frankly I still don't like it as much as many as I have read, but I'm very glad I wrote it)._

_Not sure when and if I'll do a sequel, and if I do, I may need help from some of the fukufic folks to make sure I don't mangle the Senshi stuff, all of which I have learned from X-over fics that I've read here, I haven't read any of the original material like I have Ranma ½. It was your good reviews that have got me thinking about doing a sequel._

_But to finish, thank you all again very much. Your positive and kind reviews did more to motivate me than I thought possible, and I'm very grateful for your interest. I'm an engineer, and always hated any literature requirements, I never thought I would be able to write a story like this. I have so much more respect for other authors now that I have an inkling of what it takes to try to write a story. When I see how some people have written ten, twenty stories I am even more amazed!_


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